*■* 


rvncAL  Shakspkrian  Stage— Perspectivi   View 


Frontispi 


Plate  4 


Columbia  "Qlniversits  Stuoies  in  JEnglisb 


THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 


THE 
SHAK'SPERIAN  STAGE 


BY 

VICTOR  E.  ALBRIGHT 


Submitted  in  Partial  Fulfilment  of  the  Requirements  foe 

the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  in  the  Faculty 

of  Philosophy,  Columbia  University 


NEW  YORK 

1909 


Copyright,  1909 
By  THE  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.      Published  July,  1909. 


TO 
THE   MEMORY    OF   MY    FATHER   AND   MOTHER 


825 


This  Monograph   has  been   approved  by  the  Department  of 
English  in    Columbia    University  as   a    contribution    to   knowledge 

worthy  of  publication. 

A.  H.  THORNDIKE, 

Secretary. 


PREFACE 

In  the  Introduction  to  A  Typical  Shaksperian  Stage, 
published  in  January,  1908,  it  was  stated  that  the  text  was 
"a  portion  of  a  study  of  the  Shaksperian  stage  soon  to  be 
published."  The  study  is  now  completed,  and  the  earlier 
essay  forms  the  third  chapter.  The  outline  of  the  work 
is  the  same  as  previously  given,  except  that  what  was  originally 
intended  for  the  fourth  chapter  is  here  divided  into  three 
chapters. 

I  gratefully  acknowledge  the  assistance  which  I  have 
received  in  the  course  of  this  investigation.  Professor  J.  W. 
Cunliffe  kindly  aided  me  in  securing  some  material  from  the 
British  Museum.  Professor  Edward  Dowden  and  M.  J.  J. 
Jusserand  gave  me  several  valuable  references.  To  most  of 
the  men  of  the  English  Department  of  Columbia  University  I 
am  indebted:  to  Professor  Brander  Matthews  for  suggesting 
to  me  the  subject  of  the  Shaksperian  stage,  for  various  sug- 
gestions and  criticisms  during  the  course  of  the  work,  and  for 
the  inspiration  and  general  stimulus  which  I  have  received 
from  his  courses  in  the  Drama;  to  Professor  W.  W.  Lawrence 
for  a  careful  reading  of  my  manuscript;  and  especially  to 
Professor  Ashley  H.  Thorndike,  who  has  been  my  constant 
adviser  throughout  this  study,— to  him 

"  Only  I  have  left  to  say, 
More  is  thy  due  than  more  than  all  can  pay  " 

V.  E.  A. 

Grantwood,  New  Jersey 
June  22,  1909. 


Til' 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction     ........     (xj 

CHAPTER  I 

Miracles  and  Longer  Moralities       .  .         .         .     n 

Liturgical  drama,  n. — Miracles  and  longer  moralities  divided 
into  two  classes :  I.  Stationary  plays,  13.  II.  Proces- 
sional plays,  23. — Conclusion,  28. 

CHAPTER  II 
Interludes  and  Shorter  Moralities  .         .         .29 

Introduction,  29. — Interludes  and  shorter  moralities  divided 
into  four  classes :  I.  Plays  in  which  the  action  is  entirely 
unlocated  and  requires  no  properties,  30.  II.  Plays  with 
located  and  propertied  action,  32.  III.  Plays  in  which  the 
scenes  are  unlocated,  and  require  only  such  properties  as 
can  stand  wherever  needed,  33.  IV.  Plays  in  which  the 
scenes  are  located  in  or  near  some  building,  but  in  which  no 
properties  are  mentioned  and  in  most  cases  not  needed,  35. 
— Conclusion,  36. 

CHAPTER  III 
A  Typical  Shaksperian  Stage    .  .         .         .  .38 

Introduction,  38. — Swan,  Red  Bull,  Roxana,  and  Messallina 
pictures  discussed,  38. — Study  of  the  Restoration  stage,  45. 
— Study  of  the  Elizabethan  stage:  I.  A  fair-sized  space 
closed  by  a  curtain,  51.  II.  An  outer  stage  approached 
by  two  proscenium  doors,  and  an  inner  stage  at  the  rear 
separated  from  the  outer  by  a  curtain,  54.  III.  Second- 
ary curtains:  A.  Second  curtain  or  traverse,  58.  B.  Bed 
curtains,  60.  IV.  Side  entrances  to  the  inner  stage,  62. 
V.  Gallery:  A.  A  fair-sized  gallery  closed  by  a  curtain,  63. 
B.  Gallery  doors,  65.  C.  Gallery  window,  66.  VI. 
Balcony  windows,  66.  VII.  The  "hut,"  71 :  A.  Descen- 
sion  and  ascension  over  the  outer  stage,  72.  B.  Descen- 
sion  and  ascension  over  the  gallery,  73.  Minor  parts  of  the 
stage:  A.  traps,  74.  B.  Stairs,  74.  C.  Tiring-house,  etc., 
75.     D.  Properties,  75. — Conclusion,  76. 


x  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  IV 

PAGE 

Some  Principles  of  Restoration  Staging  .         .         -79 

Introduction,  79. — Presentation  of  a  modern  melodrama, 
81. — Some  principles  of  Restoration  staging:  Introduction, 
83.  I.  Location  of  a  regular  setting,  88.  II.  Outer  and 
inner  stages  become  one,  91.  III.  The  continuous  act, 
94.  Alternation  of  scenes,  95. — Special  features  of  Restora- 
tion staging,  98:  A.  Scenes  change  with  characters  on  the 
stage,  98.    B.  "Flats"  used  as  doors,  100.    Summary,  101. 

CHAPTER  V 

The  Shaksperian  Method  of  Stage  Presentation     .   103 

Introduction,  103. — Principles  of  Shaksperian  staging:  I 
Location  and  change  of  a  regular  setting,  106.  II.  Outer 
and  inner  stages  become  one,  in.  III.  The  continuous 
act,  113:  A.  Succession  of  scenes,  114.  B.  Alternation  of 
scenes,  116.  Special  forms  of  alternation:  1  Scenes 
change  with  characters  on  the  stage,  122.  2.  Curtains 
used  as  doors,  125.     Summary,  129. 

CHAPTER  VI 

The  Shaksperian    Method    of   Stage    Presentation 

(continued)         .  .  .  .  .  .  -132 

Special  features  of  Shaksperian  staging,  etc.,  132:  I.  Use 
of  the  upper  stage,  132.  II.  Special  settings,  133:  A. 
Setting  for  a  play  within  a  play,  134.  B.  Setting  for  a  scene 
of  execution,  136.  III.  Properties  moved  forwaTd-and 
new  ones  added  after  the  scene  opens,  137.  A.  Small  prop- 
erties moved  forward  and  added  according  to  orders,  138. 
B.  Banquets  brought  on,  139.  C.  Beds  brought  on  and 
moved  forward,  140:  1.  Beds  in  in-door  scenes,  144.  2. 
Beds  in  out-door  scenes,    146.     Summary,    147. 

Appendix   .........  151 

Critical  Bibliography        ...  ...  163 

List  of  Plays  .......  168 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Plate  4. — A   Typical   Shaksperian    Stage 

— Perspective  View  .  .  .  Frontispiece 

Plate  i-a. — Chambers'  Conjectural  Plan 
of  the  Anglo-Norman  Resurrection 
Play  Stage  in  a  Church  in  the 
Twelfth  Century  ...         To  face  p.  12 

From  Chambers '  ' '  Mediaeval   Stage . ' ' 

Plate  i-b. — Plan  of  the  Donaueschingen 
Passion-Play  Stage  in  a  Church  in  the 
Sixteenth  Century  ...         To  face  p.  13 

From  Chambers'  " Meditrval  Stage." 

Plate  2.— Stage  Plan  of  The  Castle  of  Per- 
severance (1461-1483)  .  .  .         To  face  p.  14 
From  the  Macro  Plays,  ed.  by  F.  J.  Furnivall 
and  A.  W.  Pollard  for  the  E.  E.  T.  S. 

Plate  3-A.— Author's   Conjectural   Plan 

of  the  Stage  of  Mary  Magdalene        .         To  face  p.  16 

Plate  3-B. — Cornish  Theater  at  Perran- 

zabulo  in  the  Fourteenth  Century  To  face  p.  18 

The  Stage  Plan  from  Edwin  N orris'  "The 
Ancient  Cornish  Drama" ;  the  "Round"  from 
T.  C.  Peter's  "Tlie  Old  Cornish  Drama." 

Plate  5. — Frontispiece  to  the  Tragedy  of 

Messallina  ....         To  face  p.  44 

From  the  quarto  of  N.  Richards'  "The 
Tragedy  of  Messallina." 

Plate  6. — Stage  of  the  Duke's  Theater  in 

1673  ......         To  face  p.  46 

From  the  quarto  of  Elkanah  Settle's  "  The  Em- 
press of  Morocco." 

xi 


xii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Plate  7. — The  Stage  of  Richelieu  in  1641       To  face  p.  48 

From  Karl  Mantzius'  "A  History  of  TJieatrical 
Art.1' 

Plate  8. — A  Typical  Shaksperian    Stage 

— Ground  Plans  ...         To  face  p.  76 

Plate  9.— The    Scenes     in     The    Outlaw's 

Christmas  (1907)  .  .  .  .         To  face  p.  82 

Plate  10.— Fitz-Giggo — Stage    of   Covent 

Garden  Theater  in  1763    .  .  .         To  face  p.  84 

From  George  Paston  's  "Social  Caricatures  on  the 
Eighteenth  Century.' 

Plate  ii. — Timon  of  Athens,  V,  3 — Inner 

Scene        ......       To  face  p.  116 

Plate  12. — Timon  of  Athens,  V,  4 — Outer 

Scene        ......       To  face  p.  120 

Plate  13. — Court    Stage    in    the    Rubens 

Room,  Windsor  Castle,  1848      .  .       To  face  p.  130 

From  J.  K.  Chapman's  "A  History  of  Royal 
Dramatic  Entertainment." 

Plate  14. — Shakspere's  Coat-of-Arms      .       On  front  cover 
From  Samuel  A.  Tannenbaum's  "Shakspere's 
Coat-of-Arms." 


CAUf 


THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 


INTRODUCTION 

This  study  is  an  investigation  of  the  structure  of  a  typical 
stage  and  of  the  general  method  of  play-production  in  the 
Elizabethan  period.  The  materials  which  have  been  used  are 
mainly  of  four  kinds:  i.  Contemporary  statements  and 
records  bearing  on  the  stage.  2.  Four  drawings  which  have 
usually  been  considered  as  presentments  of  interiors  of  Shaks- 
perian  theaters.  3.  Pre-Elizabethan  and  Restoration  stage 
conditions.     4.     The  Elizabethan  drama. 

The  first  consists  mainly  of  the  contracts  for  constructing 
the  Fortune  and  Hope  theaters,  and  of  Henslowe's  Diary. 
The  Fortune  contract  gives  us  considerable  information  about 
the  main  building,  but  unfortunately  almost  nothing  about  the 
more  important  features  of  the  stage.  We  are  told  that  the 
stage  was  forty-three  feet  wide,  extended  to  the  middle  of  the 
yard,  was  partly  covered  by  a  "shadow,"  was  paled  "with 
goode  stronge  and  sufficyent  new  oken  boardes, "  and  contained 
posts  which  were  "square  and  wrought  palaster-wise,  with 
carved  proportions  called  Satiers,  to  be  placed  and  sett  on  the 
topp  of  every  of  the  same  postes. "  We  are  thankful  for  thus 
much  information,  but  we  cannot  reconstruct  a  stage  from  it ; 
we  must  first  be  able  to  understand  all  that  is  implied  in  the 
sentence,  "  And  the  said  stadge  to  be  in  all  other  proportions 
contryved  and  fashioned  like  unto  the  stadge  of  the  saide 
Playhouse  called  the  Globe."  The  same  indefiniteness  and 
disappointment  are  met  in  the  Hope  contract. 


2  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

The  old  drawings  would  be  conclusive  evidence  of  the 
structure  of  the  stage  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  there  are 
serious  objections  to  each  one.  The  Swan  picture  cannot  be 
accepted  in  all  its  details ;  the  so-called  Red  Bull  is  perhaps  a 
presentment  of  a  Commonwealth  stage;  the  Messallina  and 
Roxana  do  not  in  either  case  show  a  complete  stage.1  Un- 
der such  conditions,  these  pictures  must  be  used  with  great 
caution. 

A  knowledge  of  the  stage  conditions  before  and  after  1576— 
1648  is  of  more  value  than  either  the  drawings  or  the  con- 
temporary statements.  Dramatic  customs  in  any  age  or 
nation  change  very  slowly:  while  a  new  play  is  being  written, 
an  old  one  is  being  played ;  and  the  new  and  the  old  are  adapted 
to  the  same  form  of  stage.  One  by  one,  however,  certain  fea- 
tures are  discarded  and  others  added,  and  after  centuries  have 
gone  by  a  new  form  of  stage  and  a  new  method  of  play-produc- 
tion are  found.  There  were  no  permanent  playhouses  before 
1576,  but  there  were  certain  laws  of  staging  which  were 
usually  adhered  to ;  and  after  the  Elizabethan  period  there  were 
permanent  theaters  and  definite  principles  of  staging.  There- 
fore, an  evolutionary  study  of  this  subject  is  possible,  and  must 
yield  valuable  results. 

But  of  all  the  sources  of  information,  the  plays  are  the  most 
important.  Contemporary  statements  may  be  misinterpreted, 
the  old  drawings  may  not  be  reliable,  even  the  regular  develop- 
ment of  the  English  theater  may  be  questioned,  but  the  great 
Elizabethan  drama  has  forever  stamped  upon  it  a  picture  of  the 
old  outer-inner  stage  upon  which  it  was  played,  and  the  laws 
under  which  it  was  performed.  One  cannot,  indeed,  read 
these  facts  as  one  runs,  nor  obtain  the  whole  truth  from  a  few 
plays ;  but  by  a  consistent  study  of  the  main  body  of  plays,  one 
may  form  a  definite  idea  of  the  principal  features  of  the  stage 
and  the  general  method  of  play-production. 

The  Elizabethan  plays  to  which  I  have  given  special  study 
and  from  which  I  have  selected  the  majority  of  my  illustrations 
are  those  of  the  well-known  dramatists  of  the  period, — Lyly, 

1  For  a  full  explanation  of  these  pictures  see  Chapter  III. 


INTRODUCTION  3 

Peele,  Kyd,  Marlowe,  Greene,  Lodge,  Shakspere,  Jonson, 
Chapman,  Dekker,  Marston,  Middleton,  Heywood,  Beaumont 
and  Fletcher,  Massinger,  Webster,  Ford,  Shirley,  Davenant. 
Few  quotations,  however,  have  been  taken  from  Shakspere. 
My  reasons  are  that  plenty  of  proof  can  be  found  for  the  main 
points  at  issue  outside  of  his  pieces,  and,  more  especially, 
that  I  have  in  hand  a  special  essay  on  the  staging  of  Shak- 
spere's  plays. 

In  selecting  illustrations  from  the  Elizabethan  drama,  I 
have  asked  myself  but  three  questions:  i.  Was  the  play, 
from  which  the  illustration  is  taken,  written  in  the  period 
157 6- 1 64 2?  2.  Was  it  written  for  one  of  the  regular  public 
or  private  theaters?  3.  Was  it  a  normal  play?  Other 
questions  concerning  dates  of  performance  and  publication, 
and  theaters  at  which  the  plays  were  produced,  have  not 
entered,  and,  as  I  conceive  the  matter,  should  not  enter  this 
discussion  of  principles  and  typical  conditions. 

As  I  do  not  discuss  this  matter  of  dates  and  different  theaters 
elsewhere,  perhaps  a  few  words  may  be  needful  here.  A 
continuous  reading  of  the  Elizabethan  drama  shows  clearly 
that  all  the  regular,  normal  plays  of  the  period  were  written 
for  the  same  form  of  stage.  As  William  Archer  says,  "The 
more  one  reads  of  the  Elizabethan  drama  with  a  view  to 
reconstructing  its  material  mechanism,  the  more  is  one  con- 
scious of  a  certain  '  standardisation'  of  effects.  .  .  .  The 
tendency  of  investigation  is  ...  to  encourage  the  belief 
that  the  great  majority  of  dramatists,  in  constructing  their 
pieces,  kept  in  view  a  normal  or  typical  stage."1  Undoubt- 
edly the  eleven  or  twelve  theaters  differed  in  minor  details; 
but  the  main  parts — the  parts  which  were  vital  to  the  dram- 
atists in  their  workshops — were  the  same  in  all  regular 
theaters  for  at  least  the  last  sixty  years  of  the  period. 

There  were,  of  course,  other  stages  besides  the  normal  ones 
in  England  during  the  Elizabethan  period.  There  were  special 
stages  at  the  Court  and  the  homes  of  the  noble  families  for  the 
performance  of  masques,  pastorals,  and  the  like  ;and  also  stages 

«  "Elizabethan  Stage",  Quarterly  Review,  April,  1908. 


4  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

at  the  universities  and  elsewhere  for  the  dramas  of  Seneca, 
Plautus,  and  Terence,  and  English  plays  modeled  on  them. 
As  to  the  performance  of  court  masques,  I  need  only  to  refer 
to  Mr.  W.  J.  Lawrence's  valuable  article,  The  Mounting  of  the 
Stuart  Masques,  in  The  English  Illustrated  Magazine  for 
November,  1903.  The  stage  for  the  Plautine  comedies  may 
claim  a  word  of  explanation  here.  It  consists  of  an  open 
space  representing  a  street,  yard,  square,  etc.,  before  one  or 
more  doors  which  stand  for  entrances  to  houses.  All  the 
action  takes  place  on  this  neutral  ground.  The  characters  are 
called  out  of  the  houses,  ordered  to  appear  at  this  particular 
place,  or  chance  to  be  passing  by.  For  example:  in  Miles 
Gloriosus  the  scene  represents  a  street  before  the  houses  of 
Periplecomenus  and  Pyrgopolinices ;  in  Menaechmi,  a  street 
before  the  houses  of  Menaechmus  and  Erotium;  in  Amphitryon, 
a  yard  before  the  house  of  Amphitryon;  in  Andria,  a  street 
before  the  houses  of  Simo  and  Glycerium.  No  stationary 
properties  are  used  except  chairs,  benches,  and  such  things  as 
might  naturally  stand  before  any  house.  The  structure  of 
this  stage  is  so  evident  in  every  Plautine  play  that  the  Eliza- 
bethans must  have  been  very  familiar  with  it,  and  have 
frequently  constructed  it  at  the  universities  and  other  places 
for  the  performance  of  Latin  comedies.  Moreover,  they  wrote 
a  number  of  plays  for  this  identical  form  of  stage:  Ralph 
Roister  Doister  was  written  for  a  stage  representing  a  street 
before  the  house  of  Dame  Constance;  Gammer  Gurton's 
Needle,  a  street  before  the  houses  of  Dame  Chat  and  Gammer 
Gurton;  Jack  Juggler,  2l  street  before  the  house  of  Master 
Bongrace. 

Many  "probabilities"  have  been  put  forth  to  prove  that  the 
regular  theaters  differed  as  to  the  main  parts  of  their  stages, 
but  no  unquestionable  facts.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have 
definite  proof  that  certain  ones  were  alike:  the  Hope  theater 
was  to  be  "made  in  all  thinges  and  in  suche  forme  and  fashion 
as  the  said  playhouse  called  the  Swan"1;  the  stage  of  the 
Fortune  theater  was  to  be  "contryved  and  fashioned  like 

1  Contract  fcr  Building  the  Hope  Theater.  Repr.  G.  P.  Baker, 
Development  of  Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatist,  Appendix. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

unto  the  stadge  of  the  saide  Playhouse  called  the  Globe. " l 
The  manner  of  play-writing  at  the  time  necessitated  a  similar- 
ity in  the  stages.  Dramatists  were  then,  as  now,  writing  for 
the  highest  market,  and  unless  the  stages  of  the  different 
theaters  were  one  in  principle,  this  would  not  have  been 
possible.  The  leading  dramatic  critic  of  to-day  says,  "A 
play  is  destined  for  performance  in  a  theater,  and  a  practical 
playwright  can  no  more  disregard  the  actual  structure  of  his 
stage  than  a  composer  can  disregard  the  range  and  quality  of 
the  instrument  for  which  he  is  writing. "  2  And  lastly,  the 
majority  of  Elizabethan  plays  demand  one  form  of  stage. 
There  is  virtually  no  distinction  as  to  theater,  as  long  as  the 
theater  is  one  of  the  regular  playhouses;  and  virtually  no 
distinction  as  to  time,  as  long  as  the  time  is  between,  let  us  say, 
1585  and  1642.  It  is  impossible  to  prove  this  last  point  in  a 
limited  space,  but  one  illustration  may  be  given:  The  Jew  in 
the  Jew  of  Malta  being  one  of  Edward  Alleyn's  famous  parts,  the 
play  must  have  been  frequently  given  at  the  Rose  and  the  Thea- 
ter; it  was  revived  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II  at  the  Cockpit,  and 
printed  in  1633.  Thus  the  play  was  played  in  both  public 
and  private  theaters  throughout  a  good  part  of  the  period. 
However  much  the  play  may  have  suffered  after  it  left  the 
hands  of  its  author,  the  printed  edition  of  1633  demands  the 
same  stage  as  plays  published  in  the  last  decade  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  In  fact,  all  the  evidence  that  I  am  aware  of 
indicates  that  there  was  the  same  form  of  stage  in  all  the  regu- 
lar theaters  from  the  time  of  Marlowe  to  that  of  Shirley. 
With  this  condition,  I  repeat,  a  study  of  a  typical  Shak- 
sperian  stage  and  the  principles  of  Shaksperian  play-produc- 
tion has  nothing  to  do  with  particular  dates  and  theaters. 

In  presenting  the  study  I  have  attempted  to  give  the 
results  of  my  investigation  in  a  continuous  and  uninterrupted 
form.  For  this  reason  I  have  carefully  avoided  constant 
references  to  other  studies  of  the  stage  and  criticisms  of  their 

1  Contract  for  Building  the  First  Fortune  Theater.  Repr.  G.  P.  Baker, 
Development  of  Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatist,  Appendix. 

2  William  Archer,  "The  Elizabethan  Stage",  Quarterly  Review, 
April,   1908 


6  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

interpretations.  The  three  most  thorough  studies — Die 
Shakes peare-Biihne  nach  den  alten  Buhnenanvjeisungen  by 
Cecil  Brodmeier,  Some  Principles  of  Elizabethan  Staging  by  G. 
F.  Reynolds,  and  Die  Biihneneinrichtung  des  Shakes pear eschen 
Theaters  nach  den  zeitgenossischen  Dramen  by  Richard  We- 
gener— have  been  reviewed  in  the  Appendix.  A  complete  list 
of  the  shorter  articles  on  the  stage  has  been  included  in  the 
Bibliography. 

Perhaps  a  brief  outline  of  the  essay  at  this  point  may  be 
helpful.  No  complete  summary  of  each  chapter  is  here  in- 
tended; the  object  is  simply  to  outline  in  a  more  or  less  gen- 
eral way  the  main  trend  of  the  argument  in  the  dissertation. 

Chapter  I.  Miracles  and  Longer  Moralities.  In  its 
infancy  the  religious  drama  was  played  on  and  between 
sedes  or  domus  set  at  intervals  down  the  choir  and  nave  of  a 
church.  When  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  laity  in  their 
market-places  and  guild-halls,  it  was  produced  in  either  a  sta- 
tionary or  a  processional  manner;  that  is,  some  plays  were  per- 
formed on  and  between  stationary  sedes  arranged  in  a  circle 
or  some  convenient  form,  while  others  were  given  on  and 
around  pageant  wagons  which  moved  through  the  city  in  one 
grand  procession.  In  general,  the  sedes  and  pageant  wagons 
contained  settings  and  the  plateae  none ;  and  in  accordance 
with  this  arrangement,  some  scenes  were  written  for  a  set 
stage  and  others  for  a  bare  one.  A  scene  that  required 
localization  usually  had  a  definite  sedes,  and  an  effort  was 
always  made  to  keep  the  action  in  congruity  with  the 
properties  around  it. 

Chapter  II.  Interludes  and  Shorter  Moralities.  The 
interludes  and  shorter  moralities  may  be  divided  according  to 
their  staging  into  two  general  classes, — those  needing  prop- 
erties in  the  action,  and  those  requiring  only  a  bare  stage. 
As  the  performance  was  usually  confined  to  a  single  scaffold 
and  no  front  curtain  was  used,  the  author  in  writing  his  play 
chose  either  a  propertied  or  an  unpropertied  stage — a  sedes 
or  a  platea — for  its  production,  and  constructed  his  piece 
accordingly.  If  the  play  opened  with  a  room,  it  closed  with 
a  room;  if  it  opened  with  a  street,  it  closed  with  a  street;  and 


INTRODUCTION  7 

in  either  case  the  action  was  usually  in  keeping  with  the 
setting. 

Chapter  III.  A  Typical  Shaksperian  Stage.  First,  the 
old  drawings,  usually  known  as  the  Swan,  Red  Bull,  Roxana, 
and  Messallina,  are  considered.  Of  the  four,  the  last  two  are 
accepted  as  the  most  reliable.  Next,  the  Restoration  stage, 
as  shown  in  the  cuts  in  Settle's  Empress  of  Morocco,  is  ex- 
amined, and  points  of  similarity  between  it  and  the  stage 
shown  in  the  Messallina  picture  are  noted.  With  the  ideas 
thus  obtained  Henslowe's  Contract  for  Building  the  First 
Fortune  Theater  is  compared  to  see  in  what  way  it  supports 
and  opposes  them.  Last,  representative  plays  are  studied,  with 
an  effort  to  determine  the  different  features  of  the  stage  that 
are  there  repeatedly  called  for.  In  the  end  it  is  fairly  well 
established  that  the  typical  Shaksperian  stage  contained  the 
following  parts:  an  outer  and  an  inner  stage  separated  by  a 
curtain,  two  proscenium  doors,  a  gallery  closed  by  a  curtain, 
two  balcony  windows,  and  a  "hut."  The  approximate  ar- 
rangement of  these  parts  is  shown  in  the  Frontispiece. 

Chapter  IV.  Some  Principles  of  Restoration  Staging. 
In  the  first  place,  a  brief  description  of  a  modern  melodrama  is 
given  as  an  introduction  to  the  study  of  seventeenth-century 
staging.  In  the  second  place  a  few  principles  and  special 
features  of  Restoration  staging  are  considered  for  the  light 
they  throw  on  earlier  conditions.  In  the  typical  Restoration 
play  the  action  was  continuous  throughout  the  act;  that  is, 
no  time  was  lost  between  the  scenes.  This  principle  of  the 
continuous  act  was  made  possible  by  the  facts  that  (i)  the 
regular'settings  were  on  the  inner  stage ;  (2)  the  outer  stage  was 
usually  bare;  (3)  when  the  curtains  or  "flats"  were  closed  the 
outer  space  was  a  stage  in  itself,  suited  for  all  unpropertied 
action;  (4)  when  the  curtains  or  "flats"  were  drawn,  the  pro- 
perties in  the  rear  gave  the  whole  space  the  appearance  of  being 
set,  and  the  action  took  place  over  any  part  of  the  two  stages. 
One  of  the  ways  of  manipulating  this  duplex  stage  so  as  to 
secure  continuity  of  action  throughout  the  act  was  the  alter- 
nation of  outer  and  inner  scenes.  There  were  two  special 
features  in  Restoration  staging,  which  were  undoubtedly  sur- 


8  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

vivals  from  Elizabethan  times ;  namely,  the  use  of  the  curtains 
or  "flats "  as  doors  to  a  house  or  room,  and  the  change  of  scene 
with  characters  on  the  stage.  This  last  feature  has  been 
blindly  called  by  some  writers  on  the  Elizabethan  stage 
"split  scenes."  No  such  term  is  needed,  as  the  operation  is 
nothing  more  than  a  change  of  scene  without  clearing  the 
stage. 

Chapters  V-VI.  Shaksperian  Method  of  Stage  Pre- 
sentation. This  question  is  discussed  under  the  heads  of 
principles  and  special  features.  To  take  up  the  principles  first : 
i .  The  properties  of  a  regular  setting  were  located  on  the  inner 
stage,  and  changed  for  a  new  scene  either  during  an  act 
division  or  during  the  playing  of  a  scene  on  the  outer  stage. 
There  were  special  settings  on  the  outer  stage;  frequently  a 
few  unimportant  properties  stood  there  throughout  the  play; 
and  occasionally  a  simple,  regular  setting  was  placed  there; 
but  as  a  rule  the  settings  were  placed  on  the  inner  stage,  and 
brought  on  and  removed  behind  closed  curtains.  2.  When 
the  curtains  were  closed,  the  space  before  them  was  a  stage  in 
itself;  when  the  curtains  were  drawn,  the  outer  and  inner 
stages  became  one.  The  outer  stage  was  the  main  scene  of 
action,  and  the  inner  with  its  properties  was  used  principally 
to  mark  the  location  and  to  give  the  appearance  of  a  change 
of  scene.  3.  The  action  in  an  act  was  virtually  continuous 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  This  continuity  of  action 
was  secured  in  three  ways:  (1)  by  the  immediate  succession 
of  outer  scenes;  (2)  by  the  succession  of  like-propertied  inner 
scenes  without  a  change  of  setting;  (3)  by  the  alternation 
of  outer  and  inner  scenes.  It  should  be  carefully  noted  that 
this  last  law  is  the  principle  of  the  continuous  act,  not  that  of 
the  alternation  of  scenes.  The  dramatist  endeavored — not 
always  successfully,  of  course — to  avoid  delays  between  the 
scenes,  and  one  of  the  means  at  his  disposal  was  the  alternation 
of  outer  and  inner  scenes.  There  is  not,  to  my  knowledge, 
a  single  play  in  which  there  is  a  complete  alternation  of  scenes 
in  every  act;  and,  indeed,  there  are  plays  in  which  there  is  little 
or  no  alternation.  The  special  features  of  Shaksperian  sta- 
ging which  I  have  noted  are  the  following :  1 .     Special  settings. 


INTRODUCTION  9 

Besides  the  regular  settings  there  were  special  ones,  which 
were  placed  on  the  outer  stage  and  removed  in  full  view  of  the 
audience.  Two  of  these  are  a  setting  for  a  play  within  a  play 
and  a  setting  for  a  scene  of  execution.  2.  Properties  moved 
forward  and  new  ones  added.  Among  these  are  (1)  small 
properties  moved  forward  and  added  according  to  orders, 
(2)  banquets  brought  on  and  removed,  (3)  beds  carried  on  and 
moved  forward. 

I  am  perfectly  aware  that  the  discussion  of  the  Shaksperian 
method  of  staging  under  the  head  of  hard  and  fast  principles 
is  a  very  unsatisfactory  way  to  treat  the  subject.  No  one 
would  suppose  that  Shakspere  had  a  set  of  principles  of  play- 
production  in  mind  in  writing  his  plays.  He  wrote  them 
according  to  the  established  method  of  stage  presentation  of 
the  day.  That  method  changed  slightly  from  time  to  time, 
and  varied  somewhat  with  different  theaters  and  different 
plays.  No  set  of  principles  will  apply  with  equal  force  to  all 
plays,  or  explain  the  exact  conditions  of  every  performance. 
But  a  search  for  differences  and  peculiarities  cannot  be 
expected  to  improve  the  vague  and  unsettled  condition  in 
which  the  problems  of  Shaksperian  staging  have  long  re- 
mained. I  have,  therefore,  labored  to  condense  the  hetero- 
geneous material  into  a  few  principles,  hoping  that  the  loss 
in  accuracy  will  be  more  than  compensated  by  the  gain  in 
clearness. 


CHAPTER  I 
MIRACLES  AND  LONGER  MORALITIES 

Mr.  E.  K.  Chambers  has  given  us  in  The  Mediaeval  Stage* 
a  careful  and  complete  history  of  the  English  religious  drama. 
At  various  places  throughout  his  two  volumes,  he  has  dis- 
cussed in  some  detail  the  material  stage.  Little  of  real 
importance  remains  to  be  added  to  his  treatment  of  the 
actual  mechanism  of  performance;  but  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  clearly  the  stage  conditions  in  which  the  forefathers 
of  the  Elizabethans  were  schooled,  a  more  collected  as  well 
as  a  more  amplified  study  of  the  method  of  presenting  these 
early  plays  may  be  given. 

"One  must,"  says  Mr.  Chambers,  "conceive,  I  think,  of  the 
performances  as  gradually  spreading  from  choir  to  nave,  with 
the  domus,  loca,  or  sedes  set  at  intervals  against  the  pillars, 
while  people  crowded  to  watch  in  the  aisles."2  In  con- 
nection with  his  conjectural  stage  plan  of  The  Resurrection 
(See  Plate  i-a)  he  further  remarks:  "And  I  would  point  out 
that  such  a  scheme  is  simply  a  continuation  of  the  arrange- 
ment down  the  choir  and  nave  of  a  church  suggested  above. 
i  The  crucifix  is  where  it  should  stand  in  the  church,  above  the 
altar.  The  place  of  the  monument  corresponds  to  that  most 
usual  for  the  sepulchrum,  on  the  north  side  of  the  chancel. 
The  positions  of  heaven  and  hell  are  those  in  the  former  of 
stairs  up  to  the  rood-loft,  in  the  latter  of  the  stairs  down  to 
the  crypt;  and  what,  in  a  church,  should  serve  for  hell  and 
heaven  but  crypt  and  rood-loft?  The  Galilee  answers  to 
the  porch  at  the  west  end  of  the  church,  which  we  know  to 

1  E.  K.  Chambers,  The  Mediaeval  Stage,  2  vols.     London,  1903. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  79. 


12  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

have  been  so  called;  and  the  castle  of  Emmaus  stands  in  the 
middle  of  the  nave,  just  as  it  did  in  the  Fleury  Peregrini. 
"With  my  conjectural  plan  may  be  compared  this  actual  plan 
of  a  sixteenth-century  stage  from  Donaueschingen  [See  Plate 
i-b],  in  which  a  similar  principle  is  apparent,  the  three 
divisions  formed  by  cross-barriers  corresponding  to  the  three 
divisions  of  a  church — sanctuary,  choir,  nave. " 1 

This  conclusion  of  Mr.  Chambers,  illustrated  by  the  two 
drawings  which  I  have  reproduced  in  Plate  i,  shows  that  the 
English  drama  in  its  very  infancy  was  staged  in  a  systematic 
manner.  For  every  localized  scene  there  was  an  appropriate 
sedes  on  which  to  play  it.  The  scenes  of  heaven  had  their 
Ciel  sedes;  those  of  hell,  their  Enfer  sedes.  Nicodemus  had  a 
special  domus;  so  had  Pilate,  and  Caiphas.  There  was  a 
sedes  for  the  sepulcher,  another  for  the  jail,  and  so  on.  Hell, 
heaven,  the  jail,  the  sepulcher,  etc.,  were  not  all  incongruously 
crowded  on  the  same  scaffold — that  is,  when  the  heaven  scene, 
for  example,  was  ended,  its  scaffold  did  not  immediately 
become  hell,  and  in  turn  Galilee,  the  jail,  the  sepulcher,  the 
home  of  Nicodemus,  and  all  the  rest — but  each  scene  that 
required  localization  had  its  own  stage.  In  the  large  cathe- 
drals sufficient  space  existed  between  the  different  sedes  to 
keep  each  domus  and  its  scene  distinct  from  the  others;  and 
to  allow  certain  parts  of  the  action,  such  as  the  journeying 
from  one  house  to  another,  to  take  place  in  the  plateae.  These 
sedes  were  probably  raised  platforms.2  Some  had  perhaps 
few  or  no  properties,  and  were  there  mainly  to  localize  the 
scene;  while  others  may  have  been  fairly  well  propertied.  In 
support  of  this  last  statement,  notice  the  opening  stage  direc- 
tion of  the  Adam,  a  twelfth- or  thirteeth-century  play:  "A 
Paradise  is  to  be  made  in  a  raised  spot,  with  curtains  and 

1  Mediaeval  Stage,  vol.  ii,  pp.  83,  84. 

2  See  a  reproduction  of  the  miniatures  in  the  MS.  of  the  Valenciennes 
Passion  in  J.  J.  Jusserand,  Shakespeare  in  France,  p.  63 ;  and  in  Petit  de 
Julleville,  Histoire  de  la  langue  et  de  la  litterature  francaises,  vol.  ii,  p. 
416;  or,  better  still,  a  model  of  the  Valenciennes  stage  in  the  Library 
of  the  Paris  OpeVa,  and  a  duplicate  of  the  same  in  the  Library  of 
Columbia  University 


Crucifix 


t 


Monument 
(sepulchrurtt) 

D 

y*>*     i 

D 

Ciel 

Maries 

D 

. 

Deciples 
Nichodemes 

D 
D 

CD 
Jemaiis 

Jaiole 

[]      Enfer 

[]      Pilate 

Caiphas 
n      Joseph 


Galitee 

Plate  i-a. — Chamber's  Conjectural  Plan  of   ihe  Anglo-Norman  Ressurrection 
Play  Stage  in  a  Church  in  the  Twelfth  Century 


'NIVER6ITY 

OF 


CALIFOH 


•  1  "  1  * 

"D  =jk  D? 

m0  /^\Qr 
— I'M — 

12       3 

1 

3ft 

— f  ' 

10 

7 

\ 

*  * 

3 

F 

\ 

H^N, 

A.  B.  C.  The  three  divisions 
of  the  stage,  corre- 
sponding to  the  nave, 
choir,  and  sanctuary 
of  a  church, 

1.  The  first  door. 

2.  Hell. 

3.  The  Garden   of  Gethse- 

mane. 

4.  Mount  Olivet. 

5.  The  second  door. 

6.  Herod's  palace. 

7.  Pilate's  palace. 

8.  The  pillar  of  scourging. 

9.  The  pillar  for  the  cock. 

10.  The  house  of  Caiaphas. 

11.  The  house  of  Annas. 

12.  The  house  of  the   Last 

Supper. 

13.  The  third  door. 

14.  15,  16,  17.  Graves  from 

which  the  dead  arise. 
18,  19.   Crosses  of  the  two 
thieves. 

20.  Cross  of  Christ. 

21.  The  Holy  Sepulchre. 

22.  Heaven. 


Plan  of  Donaueschingen  Passion-Play  Stage  (sixteenth  century). 

Plate  1 -b. — Plan  of  Donaueschingen  Passion-Play  Stage  in  a  Chi  k< 

in   i'he  Sixteenth  Century 


MIRACLES  AND  LONGER  MORALITIES  13 

cloths  of  silk  hung  round  it  at  such  a  height  that  persons  in 
the  Paradise  may  be  visible  from  the  shoulders  upwards. 
Fragrant  flowers  and  leaves  are  to  be  set  round  about,  and 
divers  trees  put  therein  with  hanging  fruit,  so  as  to  give  the 
likeness  of  a  most  delicate  spot. " 1 

"  Out  of  the  hands  of  the  clergy  in  their  naves  and  choirs, 
it  [the  liturgic  play]  passed  to  those  of  the  laity  in  their  market- 
places and  guild  halls."2  Did  the  same  general  method  of 
staging  still  continue?  Did  the  floor  of  the  church  with  its 
sedes  and  plateae  simply  become  the  green  of  the  town-square  ? 
Only  a  careful  study  of  the  miracles  and  longer  moralities 
will  answer  these  questions. 

For  the  purpose  of  discussing  the  method  of  performance, 
the  miracles  and  longer  moralities  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes, — stationary  and  processional.3  The  stationary  play 
was  given  on  a  number  of  fixed  or  movable  platforms,  ar- 
ranged in  a  circle  or  in  the  form  most  suitable  to  the  play. 
The  processional  play  was  produced  on  a  number  of  pageant 
wagons  which  moved  in  procession  through  the  town,  each 
halting  long  enough  at  the  appointed  stations  to  allow  the 
performance  of  its  scene.  Had  we  the  plans  of  all  the  early 
stages  and  the  text  of  all  the  plays,  it  would  be  advisable  to 
study  the  presentation  of  the  plays  of  the  two  classes  in 
chronological  order;  but  as  this  is  not  the  case,  it  seems  more 
practicable  to  begin  in  each  class  with  the  plays  about  whose 
staging  we  are  fairly  sure,  and  from  these  to  pass  to  analogous 
ones. 

I.       STATIONARY  PLAYS 

On  the  first  leaf  of  the  Macro  MS.,  which  dates  from  the 
reign  of  Edward  IV,  is  a  diagram  of  the  stage  of  The  Castle  of 
Perseverance.      This  stage    plan  and  the  descriptive    matter 

1  Mediaeval  Stage,  vol.  ii,  p.  80 

2  Ibid.,  p.  69. 

3  Mr.  Chambers  does  not  make  a  formal  division  into  these  two 
classes,  but  whenever  he  has  an  occasion  to  speak  of  the  staging,  he 
usually  refers  to  it  as  "stationary"  or  "processional." 


14  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

round  about  it  give  us  an  excellent  idea  of  the  method  of 
staging  a  stationary  play.  For  the  sake  of  study  and  com- 
parison, I  reproduce  in  Plate  2  both  the  fac-simile  and  the 
modernized  form  of  this  diagram  as  it  is  given  in  the  Early 
English  Text  edition  of  the  Macro  Plays. l  The  stage  is 
arranged  in  the  form  of  a  circle,  perhaps  one  hundred  feet 
in  diameter,  encircled  by  a  ditch  or  bar  of  some  kind :  "  This 
is  the  water  about  the  place,  if  any  ditch  may  be  made  where 
(ther)  it  shall  be  played,  or  else  that  it  be  strongly  barred  all 
about;  and  let  not  over  many  auditors  (stytelerys)  be  within 
the  place."  In  the  center  is  a  rude  representation  of  the 
castle:  "This  is  the  Castle  of  Perseverance,  that  standeth  in 
the  midst  of  the  place;  but  let  no  men  sit  there,  for  letting  of 
the  sight;  for  there  shall  be  the  best  of  all."  Between  the 
pillars  of  the  castle  is  an  object  intended  for  a  bed:  "Man- 
kind's bed  shall  be  under  the  Castle,  and  there  shall  the  soul 
lie  under  the  bed  till  he  shall  rise  and  play. "  A  cupboard  and 
most  likely  other  properties  were  on  the  same  stage:  "Cove- 
tise's  cupboard  shall  be  at  the  end  of  the  Castle,  by  the  bed's 
feet. "  Around  the  outside  are  the  names  of  the  five  scaffolds, 
which  of  course  stood  just  within  the  ditch:  "South,  Caro 
scaffold — West,  Mundus  scaffold — North,  Belial  scaffold — 
North-east,  Covetise  scaffold — East,  Deus  scaffold. " 

From  this  it  would  appear  that  the  castle  was  a  fairly 
elaborate  structure,  all  open  underneath,  with  or  without 
curtains,  and  was  propertied  with  a  bed,  cupboard,  and 
doubtless  other  things,  which  stood  on  a  raised  floor.  The 
scaffolds  were  arranged  around  this  central  stage,  and  con- 
tained stools  or  whatever  properties  the  scenes  thereon  called 
for.  In  fact,  the  stage  plan  is  practically  the  same  as  that 
found  in  the  church.  The  different  characters  had  their 
homes  on  one  or  other  of  the  sedes;  and  all  the  propertied  scenes 
took  place  on  or  before  these  stages,  while  the  unlocated  ones, 
such  as  the  traveling  scenes,  were  acted  on  the  plateae  between 
the  sedes.  The  audience  sat  or  stood  without  the  ditch,  where 
they  could  see  and  hear,  all  that  took  place  within  the  circle. 

«  Macro  Plays,  edited  by  F.  J.  Fumivall  and  A.  W.  Pollard  for  the 
£.  E.  T.  S.  Extra  Series.  Volume  XCI. 


Northc.     H  ho    yal  schal   pleye   Belyal, 

Belyal  loke  pat  ho  haue  gunno-pow- 

skalfold1.        der  brenny»[ge]  In  pypys  in 

his  handts  &  in  ht»  ens,  & 

in  his  ere,  whanQe  he  gotho 

to  bat[tel]. 

f»=  iiij  dowtori's  schul  bo  clad  in  mcntclys ;  Merci  in  wytfi,  Kythwysnesso 
in  red,  al  togedyr;  Trewtho  in  sad  grene,  &  Pea  ol  in  blake;  &  pei  schal 
pltYe  in  |>e  place  al  togedyr  tyl  pcy  brynge  np  pe  sowle. 


P      fe?^3 


Plate  2.— Stage  Plan  OF    The  Castle  of  Perseverance  (1461-1483) 


MIRACLES  AND  LONGER  MORALITIES  15 

Mary  Magdalene1  in  the  Digby  MS.  of  about  1480-90  shows, 
in  general,  the  same  plan  of  staging.  Following  the  scheme 
of  the  foregoing,  I  have  ventured  to  give  a  plan  of  the  com- 
plex and  interesting  stage  for  the  play  (Plate  3-A).  In  the 
center  stands  the  castle  of  Maudleyn,  and  around  it  in  a  circle 
with  a  radius  of  about  seventy-five  feet  are  the  eleven  scaffolds 
or  stations.  "A-bowte  the  place,"  as  in  the  Castle  of  Per- 
severance, "  is  the  watyr,  if  any  dyche  may  be  mad, "  on  which 
the  shipman  sails  his  boat,  passing  the  home  of  Marcylle  and 
on  to  the  Holy  Land.  With  a  diagram  of  the  stage  before  us, 
a  brief  outline  of  this  rare,  old  miracle-morality  play  will  show 
us  how  the  different  stages  had  their  special  scenes,  and  how 
the  action  passed  from  one  sedes  to  another  without  delay  of 
time,  confusion  of  location,  or  incongruity  of  setting. 

Scene  i.2  The  audience  is  called  to  attention  by  Caesar 
arrogantly  demanding  silence.  After  giving  his  soldiers 
orders  to  keep  a  strict  lookout  for  all  Christians,  the  Emperor 
sits  down  to  wine  and  spice. 

Scene  2.  Cyrus,  in  the  castle  of  Maudleyn,  calls  his 
children  around  him  and  divides  his  property  among  them; 
after  this  they,  likewise,  sit  down  to  wine  and  spice. 

Scene  3.  Caesar  now  directs  his  messenger  to  carry 
orders  to  Herod  to  search  out  all  rebels  and  Christians, — 
"  Here  goth  the  masenger  to- ward  herowdes. " 

Scenes  4-5.  Herod  is  busily  engaged  with  his  philosophers 
in  looking  up  the  records  about  that  new  Prophet  when  the 
news  arrives.  The  nuntius  delivers  his  letters,  and  is  sent 
on  to  Pilate. 

Scene  6.  Pilate,  like  Herod,  gladly  consents  to  the  wishes 
of  the  Emperor,  and  dismisses  the  messenger  with  a  reward. 

Scene  7.  Cyrus  dies,  and  Mary,  Martha,  and  Lazarus  are 
left  alone  in  the  castle. 

Scenes  8-13.  The  World, the  Flesh, and  the  Devil  are  now 
heard  from  their  respective  scaffolds.  The  Devil,  "in  a 
stage  and  Helle  ondyr-neth  that  stage,"  is  much  perplexed 

»  The  Digby  Plays,  edited  by  F.  J.  Furnivall  for  the  E.  E.  T.  S.  Ex- 
tra Series,  Volume  LXX. 

2  The  division  into  scenes  is  mine. 


16  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

about  Mary,  and  goes  with  his  train  to  consult  the  King  of  the 
World.  To  this  council  on  the  World's  domus,  the  King  of 
the  Flesh  is  summoned,  and  it  is  soon  decided  that  Lechery 
with  the  bad  angel  shall  tempt  Mary  while  the  six  other 
deadly  sins  shall  storm  the  castle. 

Scene  14.  After  a  brief  siege  the  conquest  is  won,  and 
Mary,  leaving  her  home  to  Martha  and  Lazarus,  goes  away 
with  Lechery. 

Scene  15.  On  their  way  they  enter  a  tavern  where  Mary 
falls  in  love  with  Curiosity,  a  dandy,  and  completes  her 
downfall. 

Scene  16.  The  six  devils  here  transfer  their  quarters  to 
the  house  of  Simon,  while  the  bad  angel  returns  to  report  the 
good  news  to  his  masters.  The  World,  the  Flesh,  and  the 
Devil,  well  pleased  with^the  intelligence,  immediately  depart 
to  their  respective  scaffolds. 

Scene  17.  As  Mary  lies  "  asleep  in  the  erbyr,"  she  is  shown 
the  error  of  her  way  by  the  good  angel,  and  awakes — 

Scenes  18-20.  To  follow  Christ  and  his  disciples  into 
Simon's  house.  Here  she  performs  the  well-known  acts  of 
kindness  to  Jesus,  and  becomes  pure  again. 

Scene  21.  At  Mary's  conversion,  the  seven  deadly  sins 
rush  back  to  Hell.  The  Devil  rewards  them  for  their  idle- 
ness by  giving  them  a  sound  trouncing  and  by  burning  the 
structure  over  Hell  down  on  their  heads. 

Scenes  22-25.  Next  follows  the  Biblical  story  of  Lazarus' 
death,  burial,  and  resurrection. 

Scene  26.  The  characters  on  the  scaffold  of  Marcylle  now 
take  part  in  the  action.  After  considerable  mock  preparation, 
the  King  and  Queen  go  to  their  little  temple  and  offer  sacrifice 
to  Mahomet. 

Scenes  27-30.  Jesus  has  been  crucified  and  buried,  and 
these  four  scenes  carry  through  the  story  from  his  resur- 
rection to  his  appointment  to  meet  his  disciples  in  Galilee. 

Scenes  31-33.  Pilate,  well  content  with  his  sentence,  or- 
ders his  messenger  to  make  the  rounds  of  Herod's  and  Caesar's 
scaffolds  to  report  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Traitor's  death. 

Scenes  34-35.     As  Mary  enters,  talking  of  the  disciples 


o 

w 
o 
< 

'SI     OS 

2     E- 


MIRACLES  AND  LONGER  MORALITIES  17 

now  preaching  in  many  lands,  "hevyne  xall  opyne,"  and 
Jesus  sends  his  angel  to  "tell  Mary  to  go  to  Marcylle,  convert 
the  land,  and  become  an  Apostoless. " 

Scene  36.  Mary  willingly  consents,  and  a  ship,  now  appear- 
ing, conveys  her  to  the  scene  of  her  work. 

Scene  37.  There  she  succeeds  in  converting  the  King  and 
Queen.  Leaving  Mary  in  charge  of  the  home,  the  royal 
converts  set  sail  for  the  Holy  Land  to  be  baptized  by  Peter. 

Scene  38.  On  the  way  the  Queen  dies  in  child-birth,  and 
is  cast  on  a  rock  with  her  little  one ;  the  King,  however,  con- 
tinues his  journey,  receives  baptism,  and  sails  homeward. 

Scene  39.  When  he  nears  the  rock,  the  Queen  awakes 
as  from  a  sleep,  and  with  the  child  in  her  arms  passes  with  the 
King  to  the  land  of  Marcylle. 

Scene  40.  Mary  has  now  accomplished  her  mission,  and 
decides  to  spend  the  remainder  of  her  life  in  prayer  and 
fasting  in  the  wilderness.  There  she  is  miraculously  drawn 
up  into  the  clouds  each  day  and  fed  by  the  angels. 

Scene  41.  At  last  Christ  sends  his  angels  to  call  her  home; 
and  after  the  priest  has  administered  the  sacrament,  she  dies 
and  her  soul  returns  to  its  maker. 

This  outline  of  the  play,  in  connection  with  the  diagram, 
makes  it  evident  that  every  scene  had  a  fairly  definite  place  for 
its  performance,  and  a  more  methodical,  as  well  as  a  more 
realistic,  presentation  could  hardly  be  desired.  Though  the 
staging  is  simple  when  once  explained,  yet  there  is  considerable 
"business":  the  structure  over  hell  and  the  little  temple  of 
Marcylle  are  burned  down ;  "  Here  xall  hevyne  opyne  and  Iesus 
xall  shew  hymself ";  angels  descend  and  ascend  and  Mary  is 
drawn  up  into  the  clouds  and  fed;  and  the  little  boat  plies 
its  way  between  Marcylle  and  the  Holy  Land. 

An  interesting  "miracle"  play  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
The  Blessed  Sacrament, i  seems  to  require  the  same  stage 
scheme,  but  one  on  a  much  simpler  scale.  The  "chyrche" 
was  possibly  located  in  the  center,  and  the  scaffolds  of  the 
Bishop,  Aristorius,  and  Jonathas  in  the  usual  circle  around  it. 

»  J.  M.  Manly,  Pre-Shaksperean  Drama,  vol.  i. 


18  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

Jonathas  "goo  don  of  his  stage"  to  "walke  to  see  Arystories 
halle";  and  when  the  Priest  hears  of  his  coming,  he  hastens 
"to  hange  your  parlowr  with  pall."  After  Jonathas  has 
bargained  for  the  Host,  Aristorius  goes  to  the  church,  steals 
the  Sacrament  from  the  altar,  and  brings  it  to  Jonathas,  who 
has  his  servants  spread  the  table  and  place  it  thereon.  In 
the  midst  of  the  serious  trouble  with  the  miraculous  "cake," 
they  send  for  the  Bishop,  and  "  here  shalle  the  bysshope  enter 
into  the  Jewys  howse."  All  matters  are  explained,  and  as 
they  are  marching  to  the  church,  Aristorius  and  the  Priest  see 
them  and  follow:  "  Here  shall  the  merchant  &  hys  prest  go  to 
the  chyrche,  &  the  bysshop  shalle  entre  the  chyrche  &  lay  the 
Ost  upon  the  auter." 

To  illustrate  the  stationary  method  of  staging  the  long 
biblical  cycles,  we  turn  first  to  Cornwall.  The  Ancient  Cornish 
Drama, 1  of  the  fourteenth  century,  consists  of  three  groups 
of  plays  under  the  following  names:  The  Beginning  of  the 
World,  The  Passion  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  The  Resur- 
rection of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  closing  words  of  the 
first  two  groups  show  that  the  three  dramas  were  intended  to 
be  played  on  three  consecutive  days.  Along  with  each  group 
in  the  MS.  is  a  diagram  of  the  stage  used  in  that  section  of  the 
cycle.  There  are  eight  sedes  in  each  plan,  and  there  is  the 
usual  circle-arrangement  of  the  scaffolds. 

The  remains  of  two  old  Cornish  theaters,  or  rounds,  at  St. 
Just  and  Perranzabulo,  the  former  with  stone  and  the  latter 
with  turf  benches,  are  perfectly  adapted  to  the  stages  shown 
in  these  diagrams.  The  earthen  one  has  a  "level  area  of 
130  feet  in  diameter;  this  is  surrounded  by  a  continued  earthen 
mound,  8  feet  high,  having  seven  turf  benches  on  the  inside ; 
the  top  of  the  mound  or  rampart  is  7  feet  in  width." 
In  the  area  is  a  circular  pit,  13  feet  in  diameter  and  7  feet  in 
depth,  which  .leads  by  a  channel  4  J  feet  wide  to  a  semi- 
circular breach  in  the  benches.  The  St.  Just  round  is  very 
much  like  'the  one  at  Perranzabulo,  except  that  its  tiers  of 
seats  are  made  of  stone. 

1  The  Ancient  Cornish  Drama,  edited  and  translated  by  Edwin 
Norris,  2  vols.,  Oxford,  1859. 


CVVAD  Jft. 

Plate  3-b. — Cornish  Theater  at  Perranzabulo  in  the  Fourteenth  Century 


•F  THE     " 

UNIVERSITY. 


MIRACLES  AND  LONGER  MORALITIES  19 

Plate  3-b  shows  how  perfectly  the  stage  plans  are  adapted 
to  the  old  rounds.  The  diagram  of  the  third  group,  The 
Resurrection  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, i  is  here  placed  in  the 
center  of  a  drawing  of  the  round  at  Perranzabulo.2  As  there 
was  frequent  ascending  and  descending  at  Celum,  this  was 
likely  the  most  elaborate  stage;  allowing,  therefore,  30  feet 
per  diameter  or  square  for  this  sedes  and  15  feet  for  each  of 
the  others,  there  would  remain  a  space  of  about  32  feet  one 
way  and  85  the  other  between  each  sedes  which  would  be 
amply  sufficient  to  keep  the  locations  distinct.  As  in  The 
Castle  of  Perseverance,  the  propertied  and  located  action  took 
place  on  and  around  the  sedes,  and  the  unpropertied  and 
unlocated  on  the  plateae;  and  as  the  action  progressed  from 
one  scaffold  to  another,  the  audience,  seated  on  the  tiers  of 
seats,  could  follow  the  scenes  with  all  ease. 

Ludus  Coventriae  3  must  be  discussed  in  connection  with  the 
stationary  plays.  This  collection  forms  a  complete  cycle, 
but,  as  Ten  Brink  says,  it  is  of  a  "composite  character." 
To  show  how  part  of  it,  at  least,  was  given  in  the  manner  of 
the  stationary  play,  I  shall  give  a  section  of  the  cycle,  starting 
where  the  play  of  "last  year"  left  off  and  "we  wold  procede 
this  year." 

Two  doctors  speak  the  Prologue,  "what  tyme  that  pro- 
cessyon  is  enteryd  into  the  place,  and  the  Herowdys  takyn  his 
schaffalde,  and  Pylat  and  Annas  and  Cayphas  here  schaf- 
faldys."  After  the  Expositor  has  introduced  the  play  of  the 
new  year,  "  Herowndys  xal  shewe  hymself  and  speke," 
ordering  his  soldiers  to  look  well  that  no  Christians,  especially 
Jesus,  escape  his  judgment.  A  messenger,  at  this  point, 
rushes  "into  the  place,"  and  hails  Annas  and  Cayphas  with 
the  glad  tidings  that  Christ  is  taken ;  "  Here  bryng  thei  Jhesus 
beforn  Annas  and  Cayphas."  After  insolent  questioning 
and  brutal  torturing,  they  decide  that  they  must  have  Pilate's 
word  in  order  to  put  Jesus  to  death ;  so  the  messenger  goes  to 

1  The  Ancient  Cornish  Drama,  ed.  and  tr.  by  Edwin  Norris,  p.  200. 

2  T.  C.  Peter,  The  Old  Cornish  Drama,  p.  45. 

3  Ludus  Coventriae,  edited  by  J.  O.  Halliwell  for  the  Shakespeare 
Society,  18  41. 


20  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

Pilate,  "  who  syttyth  in  his  skaffald  and  the  massanger  knelyth 
to  hym,  thus  seying: 

"  My  lord  busshop  Cayphas  comawndyd  hym  to  the, 
And  prayd  the  to  be  at  the  mot-halle  by  the  day  dawe." 

Pilate  answers,  "I  xal  be  there  in  hast. " 

In  the  meantime,  they  have  led  "Jhesu  abowt  the  place 
tyl  thei  come  to  the  halle. "  Pilate  can  find  no  fault  with  him, 
and  so  the  Jews,  with  the  bishops,  "take  Jhehu  and  lede  hym  in 
gret  hast  to  the  Herowde;  and  the  Herowdys  scafald  xal  un- 
close, shewyng  Herowdes  in  astat."  Another  series  of  insults 
and  tortures  follows,  after  which  Christ  is  again  commended 
to  Pilate  for  judgment. 

"Here  enteryth  Satan  into  the  place  in  the  most  orryble 
wyse,  and  qwyl  that  he  pleyth,  thei  xal  don  on  Jhesus  clothis 
.  .  .  and  ledyn  hym  abowth  the  place,  and  than  to  Pylat, 
be  the  tyme  that  hese  wyf  hath  pleyd."  Satan  is  exulting 
over  the  fact  that  Christ  will  soon  be  among  his  number,  when 
"  xal  a  devyl  spekyn  in  helle  " : 

"Out  upon  the!  we  conjure  the, 
That  nevyr  in  helle  we  may  hym  se, 
Ffor  and  he  onys  in  helle  be, 
He  xal  oure  power  brest. " 

Satan  now  decides  to  use  Pilate's  wife  as  a  means  to  keep 
Jesus  alive:  "Here  xal  the  devyl  gon  to  Pylatys  wyf,  the 
corteyn  drawyn  as  she  lyth  in  bedde ;  and  he  xal  no  dene  make ; 
but  she  xal  sone  after  that  he  is  come  in,  makyn  a  rewly 
noyse,  commyng  and  rennyng  of  the  schaffald,  and  her  shert 
and  her  kyrtyl  in  here  hand,  and  sche  xal  come  beforn  Pylat 
leke  a  mad  woman  seyng  thus, 

"Pylat,  I  charge  the  that  thou  take  hede! 
Deme  not  Jhesu,  but  be  his  frende! " 

He  consoles  her: 

"Now  to  your  chawm  er  ye  do  sewe, 
And  alle  xal  be  weyl,  dame,  as  ye  xal  se. " 


MIRACLES  AND  LONGER  MORALITIES  21 

"Here  the  Jewys  bryng  Jhesus  agen  to  Pylat."  He  does 
not  wish  to  convict  him,  but  at  the  unanimous  cry,  "  crucify 
him!  crucify  him!"  "Pylat  takyth  Jhesu,  and  ledyth  hym 
into  the  cowncel  hous."  The  fatal  sentence  is  soon  given; 
and  "  Pylat  xal  rysyn  and  gon  to  his  schaffald  .  .  .  ;  and 
the  Jewys  xul  crye  for  joy  with  a  gret  voys,  and  arryn  hym  and 
puHyn  of  his  clothis,  and  byndyn  hym  to  a  pelere,  and  skorgyn 
hym."  "And  qwhan  he  is  skorgyd,  thei  put  upon  hym  a 
cloth  of  sylk,  and  settyn  hym  on  a  stol,  and  puttyn  a  kroune 
of  thornys  on  hese  hed  with  forkys ;  and  the  Jewys  knelyng  to 
Cryst,  takyng  hym  a  septer  and  skornyng  hym,  and  than  thei 
xal  pullyn  of  the  purpyl  clothe,  and  don  on  ageyn  his  owyn 
clothis;  and  leyn  the  crosse  on  hese  necke  to  berynt,  and 
drawyn  hym  forth  with  ropys;  and  than  xal  come  to  women 
wepyng,  and  with  here  handes  wryngyn. " 

When  they  have  reached  Gethsemane,  "Than  xul  thei 
pulle  Jhesu  out  of  his  clothis,  and  leyn  them  togedyr;  and  ther 
thei  xul  pullyn  hym  down  and  leyn  along  on  the  cros,  and  after 
that  naylyn  hym  thereon. "  When  the  cross  is  raised  with  the 
thieves  on  either  side,  Mary  comes  weeping  for  Jesus  and 
"halse  the  crosse."  "Here  thei  xal  take  oure  lady  from 
the  crosse,  and  here  xal  Pylat  come  down  from  his  shaffald 
with  Cayphas  and  Annas,  and  alle  here  mene\  "  The  bishops 
scorn  the  Saviour,  and  Pilate  orders  a  tablet  placed  over  his 
head,  bearing  the  inscription,  "  Hie  est  Jhesus  Nazarenus  rex 
Judaeorum."  "And  so  forth  alle  thei  xal  gon  agen  to  the 
skaffald."  So  on  the  action  continues  through  the  usual 
cyclic  events  but  this  is  sufficient  to  show  the  presentation. 

Thus  far  it  is  evident  that  eight  scaffolds  were  used  at 
various  times  throughout  the  action.  The  mot-hall  or  council 
house  was  in  the  center:  "Here  the  buschopys  with  here 
clerks  and  the  Phariseus  mett,  and  the  myd  place,  and  ther  xal 
be  a  lytil  oratory  with  stolys  and  cusshonys  clenly  be-seyn, 
lyche  as  it  were  a  cownsel-hous " ;  and  around  this  in  some 
form  were  arranged  the  various  scaffolds. 

Several  other  features  should  be  noticed  in  passing. 
Some  of  the  scaffolds  were  closed  at  times  by  curtains: 
"Here    xal   Annas  shewyn   hymself  in    his    stage — In    the 


22  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

mene  tyme  Cayphas  shewyth  himself  in  his  skafhald 
arayed  lyche  to  Annas — In  the  mene  tyme  the  cownsel- 
hous  beforn-seyd  xal  sodeynly  onclose,  schewyng  the  bus- 
chopys,  prestys,  and  jewgys  syttyng  in  here  astat,  lyche  as  it 
were  a  convocacyon — Here  xal  the  devyl  gon  to  Pylatys  wyf , 
the  corteyn  drawyn  as  she  lyth  in  bedde. "  Certain  scaffolds 
were  fairly  well  propertied :  "  Here  Jhesus  and  his  discipules  go 
toward  the  mount  of  Olvyet ;  and  whan  he  comyth  a  lytyl  ther 
besyde,  in  a  place  lyche  to  a  park,  he  byddyt  his  dyscipules 
abyde  hym  ther— and  ther  xal  be  a  lytil  oratory  with  stolys 
and  cusshonys  clenly  be-seyn,  lyche  as  it  'were  a  cownsel- 
hous."  As  to  the  rich  robes  worn,  one  quotation  must 
suffice:  "  Here  xal  Annas  shewyn  hymself  in  his  stage,  be  seyn 
after  a  busshop  of  the  hoold  lawe,  in  a  skarlet  gowne,  and  over 
that  a  blew  tabbard  furryd  with  whyte,  and  a  mytere  on  his 
hed,  after  the  hoold  lawe;  ii.  doctorys  stondyng  by  hym  in 
furryd  hodys,  and  on  beforn  hem  with  his  staff  of  astat,  and 
eche  of  hem  on  here  hedys  a  furryd  cappe,  with  a  gret  knop  in 
the  crowne,  and  on  stondyng  beforn  as  a  Sarazyn,  the  wiche  xal 
be  his  masangere. " 

The  preceding  analysis  serves  to  show  that  at  least  part  of 
the  Ludus  Coventriae  was  in  a  manner  a  stationary  performance 
with  the  action  taking  place  on  and  between  scaffolds  ar- 
ranged in  a  group.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose,  however, 
that  the  scaffolds  were  not  regular  pageant  wagons.  Each 
craft  may  have  owned  one  of  the  pageant  scaffolds  and  have 
supplied  it  with  actors;  and  the  main  difference  between  this 
and  a  regular  processional  play  would  be  that  the  companies 
here  came  in  groups,  and  instead  of  each  one  giving  a  separate 
play,  they  all  joined  in  the  general  play.  These  "theaters 
upon  wheels  "  could  have  moved  in  groups  from  one  "  eminent 
part  of  the  city  to  another,"  and  have  given  a  complete 
representation  of  the  assigned  yearly  part  at  each  of  the  three 
or  four  halting  places. 

Accounts  in  various  town  records  show  that  the  stationary 
play  was  of  frequent  occurrence  throughout  England  during 
the  Mediaeval  period.  "  A  play  'of  the  holy  martyr  St.  George' 
was  held  in  a  field  at  Bassingbourne  on  the  feast  of  St.  Mar- 


MIRACLES  AND  LONGER  MORALITIES  23 

garet,  July  20,  1 5 1 1 . "  1  One  of  the  items  of  expense  was  "  for 
setting  up  the  stages." 1  "  In  1564  the  Corporation  [of  Lincoln] 
ordered  'that  a  standing  play  of  some  story  of  the  Bible 
shall  be  played  two  days  this  summertime.'  The  subject 
chosen  was  Tobias,  and  the  place  the  Broadgate."2  From 
1495  on>  the  plays  at  Shrewsbury  seem  to  have  been  given  in  a 
"  quary  outside  the  walls.  "3  There  were  a  number  of  station- 
ary plays  at  Skinners  Well,  London:  "Vicesimo  nono  die 
Augusti[i384]clerici  Londoniae  apud  Skynnereswelle  fecerunt 
quendam  ludum-  valde  sumptuosum,  duravitque  quinque 
diebus."  "Item  xviii°  die  Iulii  [1391]  clerici  Londonienses 
fecerunt  ludum  satis  curiosum  apud  Skynnereswell  per  dies 
quatuor  duraturum,  in  quo  tarn  vetus  quam  novum  testamen- 
tum  oculariter  ludendo  monstrabant."4  "This  yere  [1409] 
was  the  play  at  Skynners  Welle,  whiche  endured  Wednesday, 
Thorsday,  Friday,  and  on  Soneday  it  was  ended."5  "This 
yeare  [1409]  was  a  great  play  at  Skinners  well  neare  unto 
Clerkenwell,  besides  London,  which  lasted  eight  days,  & 
was  of  matter  from  the  creation  of  the  world.  "6  "  This  year 
[141 1]  beganne  a  gret  pley  from  begynnyng  of  the  worlde  at  the 
skynners'  welle,  that  lastyd  vii  dayes  contynually;  and  there 
ware  the  moste  parte  of  the  lordes  and  gentylles  of  Ynglond. "  7 

II.       PROCESSIONAL  PLAYS. 

The  term  "processional  play"  calls  to  our  minds  at  once 
the  great  York,  Chester,  and  Towneley  cycles.  That  these 
complete  cycles  were  ever  played  just  as  they  now  appear  in  the 
MSS.  is  extremely  doubtful.  "The  Chester  texts  are  late 
transcripts  due  to  the  zeal  of  local  antiquaries,  perhaps  in 
view  of  some  frustrated  revival."8  "Some  notes,  probably 
written  when  the  plays  were  submitted  to  the  Dean  of  York  in 
1579,  state  that  xii,  xvii,  xviii,  xxi  [of  the  York  Cycle]  had 

1  Mediaeval  Stage,  vol.  ii,  p.  338.  2  Ibid.,  p.  379. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  394. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  380.         5  Ibid.,  p.  380.  6  Stow,  Survey  of  London. 
1  Mediaeval  Stage,  vol.  ii,  p.  381.  8  Ibid.,  p.  143. 


24  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

been  rewritten  since  the  register  was  compiled."1  The 
Towneley  Plays,  according  to  Pollard,  were  composed  by  three 
separate  hands  during  a  period  of  half  a  century.  But 
regardless  of  these  conditions,  the  great  majority  of  the  plays 
in  these  cycles  were  evidently  intended  for  production  in  a 
continuous  procession. 

An  idea  of  the  method  of  presenting  a  processional  cycle 
may  be  obtained  from  A  Breauarye  of  the  Cittie  of  Chester, 
"collected  by  the  Reverend:  mr.  Robert  Rogers,"  and  "writ- 
ten by  his  sonne  David  Rogers"  (1609)  :•»"  The  maner  of 
these  playes  were,  every  company  had  his  pagiant,  which 
pagiante  weare  a  high  scafold  with  2  rowmes,  a  higher  and  a 
lower,  upon  4  wheeles.  In  the  lower  they  apparelled  them- 
selves, and  in  the  higher  rowme  they  played,  beinge  all  open 
on  tope,  that  all  behollders  might  heare  and  see  them.  The 
places  where  they  played  them  was  in  every  streete.  They 
began  first  at  the  Abay  gates,  and  when  the  first  pagiante  was 
played,  it  was  wheeled  to  the  highe  crosse  before  the  Mayor, 
and  so  to  every  streete,  and  soe  every  streete  had  a  pagiante 
playing  before  them  at  one  time,  till  all  the  paigantes  for  the 
daye  appointed  weare  played,  and  when  one  pagiant  was 
neere  ended,  worde  was  broughte  from  streete  to  streete, 
that  soe  they  might  come  in  place  thereof,  exceedinge  orderly, 
and  all  the  streetes  have  their  pagiants  afore  them  all  at  one 
time  playeinge  togeather ;  to  see  which  playes  was  great  resorte ; 
and  also  scafolds  and  stages  made  in  the  streetes  in  those 
places  where  they  determined  to  play  theire  pagiantes."*— 
From  this  description  we  can  picture  to  ourselves  one  of  those 
spectacular  processions, — a  long  train  of  pageant  wagons 
slowly  moving  through  the  town,  and  each  halting  long  enough 
to  produce  its  special  scene  at  "  the  Abay  gates, "  at  "  the  highe 
crosse  before  the  Mayor, "  and  at  the  other  appointed  places. 

The  method  of  staging  in  the  processional  play  is,  indeed, 
very  much  like  that  in  the  stationary.  As  Mr.  Chambers 
says,  "it  [the  pageant  wagon]  is  simply  the  raised  locus, 
sedcs,  or  domus  of  the  stationary  play  put  upon  wheels."2 

1  Mediaeval  Stage,  vol.  ii,  p.  412.  l  Ibid.,  p.  138. 


MIRACLES  AND  LONGER  MORALITIES  25 

In  the  stage  of  The  Castle  of  Perseverance  the  scaffolds  are 
arranged  in  a  circle ;  each  scaffold  represents  a  distinct  location 
throughout  the  play,  while  the  plateae  between  the  sedes  are 
common  property  and  serve  for  all  unlocated  and  unpropertied 
scenes.  In  the  York  Plays,  for  example,  this  circle  of  scaf- 
folds is  straightened  out  into  a  long  train ;  each  pageant  wagon 
is  propertied  to  represent  one,  or,  where  the  scenes  are  very 
much  alike,  two  locations;  and  a  certain  proportion  of  the 
action  takes  place  in  the  street  around  the  carriage:  "Here 
Erode  ragis  in  the  pagond  and  in  the  strete  also. " 

There  are,  however,  certain  plays  in  the  cycles  which 
require  two  or  three  distinct  locations  with  characters  travel- 
ing from  one  location  to  another.  We  can  conceive  of  a  very 
spacious  wagon  with  two  or  three  raised  platforms  on  it,  and 
the  characters  making  a  circle  out  in  the  street  when  they  are 
supposed  to  pass  from  one  place  to  another;  or  we  can  con- 
ceive of  certain  actors  taking  their  stand  in  the  street  as  though 
they  were  on  raised  platforms,  and  passing  from  these  spots 
to  and  from  the  pageant  wagon  as  the  action  requires.  But 
there  is  some  evidence  of  another  and  a  far  more  reasonable 
way.  The  quotation  from  Rogers  ends  with  the  sentence, 
"  And  also  scafolds  and  stages  [were]  made  in  the  streetes  in 
those  places  where  they  determined  to  play  theire  pagiantes. " 
Mr.  Sharp,  while  searching  "the  ancient  Books  and  Docu- 
ments belonging  to  the  Corporation  [of  Coventry],  and  the 
remaining  Account  Books  and  other  writings  of  the  Trading 
Companies,"  was  constantly  meeting  with  items  for  extra 
scaffolds  on  wheels,  and  eventually  came  to  the  following 
conclusion:  "Various  charges  in  the  Pageant  Accounts  de- 
monstrate that  at  Coventry,  as  at  Chester,  it  was  customary  to 
have  scaffolds  or  stages  for  the  accommodation  of  the  specta- 
tors: a  few  instances  will  suffice: — making  of  a  new  post  to  the 
scaffold; — a  tryndyll  and  a  theal  to  ditto; — two  new  scaffold 
wheels  6s.  8d.; — iron  pins  and  colters  to  the  scaffold  wheels; — 
boards  about  the  scaffold; — three  boards  and  a  ledge  for  the 
scaffold; — clamps  and  iron  works; — setting  in  of  the  Pageant 
and  scaffolds; — driving  the  Pageant  and  scaffolds.  From 
these  items  it  is  evident  that  the  '  scaffolds '  were  placed  upon 


26  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

wheels,  and  moved  with  the  Pageant,  to  which  it  probably  was 
attached,  as  the  usual  charges  are  for  '  having  out  of  the 
Pageant,  setting  in  the  scaffolds:  and  setting  in  of  the  Pageant 
and  scaffolds'  to  the  Pageant-house  after   the   performance 


was  over. 


But  Mr.  Sharp's  conclusion  on  this  subject  did  not  seem 
practical  even  to  himself  when  he  came  to  represent  his  ideas 
in  a  drawing.  In  planning  his  elaborate  Frontispiece,  he 
decided  that  "the  situation  afforded  such  ample  room  for 
the  numerous  spectators"  that  it  was  "judged  advisable 
not  to  introduce  any  representation  of  the  movable  scaffolds. " 
And  why  was  this  situation  different  from  any  other?  As 
in  France,  seats  may  have  been  erected  in  the  streets,  though 
I  know  of  no  place  where  they  are  called  stages;  but  a  seating 
apparatus  was  certainly  not  pulled  along  with  each  one  of  these 
heavy  four-  and  six-wheeled  pageants.  The  untold  incon- 
venience that  would  arise  to  the  honored  occupants  every  time 
one  pageant  moved  into  a  station  and  another  out  is  perhaps 
the  least  objection  to  such  an  arrangement. 

A  more  useful  and  necessary  place  for  these  inconspicuous 
scaffolds,  inconspicuous  both  in  the  processions  and  in  the 
accounts  of  the  guilds,  would  be  in  the  staging-apparatus. 
One  or  two  of  these  "stages"  could  accompany  the  pageant 
that  was  playing  a  double-  or  treble-scene  play,  and  could 
be  used  in  the  performance  in  the  same  way  as  the  scaffolds 
around  the  castle  in  The  Castle  of  Perseverance.  In  this  way  a 
difficulty  would  be  removed  in  the  staging  of  some  of  the 
more  complex  plays  in  the  processional  cycles. 

The  majority  of  the  plays  in  the  York  cycle,  many  of  those 
in  the  Chester  and  Towneley,  and  perhaps  all  in  the  Norwich 
can  be  given  on  single  wagons,  but  certain  plays  in  the  first 
three  cycles  require  more  than  one  platform  to  keep  the 
locations  of  the  different  scenes  clearly  distinguished.  It  is 
noticed  in  these  double-  and  triple-scene  plays  that  there  is  one 
spectacular  scene  (or  two,  where  the  scenes  are  very  similar) 

'  T.  Sharp,  Dissertation  on  the  Pageants  or  Dramatic  Mysteries 
anciently  performed  at  Coventry,  p.  20. 


MIRACLES  AND  LONGER  MORALITIES  27 

demanding  special  properties,  and  one  or  two  accompanying 
scenes  which  need  few  or  no  properties,  but  which  are  too 
definitely  located  to  be  played  in  the  street. 

My  idea,  therefore,  is  that  the  pageant  wagons  sufficed  in 
some  of  the  plays  in  the  processional  cycles,  while  in  others, 
one  or  two  plain  scaffolds  with  few  or  no  properties  accom- 
panied each  pageant  carriage. *  In  certain  cities,  as  at  Coven- 
try, these  scaffolds  were  placed  on  wheels  and  drawn  along 
with  the  pageants  that  needed  them;  in  others,  as  at  Chester, 
they  were  ' '  made  in  the  streetes  in  those  places  where  they 
determined  to  play  theire  pagiantes. "  In  both  cases  they 
were  arranged  at  a  distance  of  fifty  to  seventy-five  feet  from 
the  main  carriage.  The  spectacular  scene  took  place  on  the 
pageant  wagon,  and  the  unscenic  one  or  two  on  the  scaffold  or 
scaffolds  near  by;  and  the  characters  passed  freely  from  one 
to  the  other,  doing  part  of  the  acting  on  the  plateae,  just  as  in 
the  stationary  play. 

An  analysis  of  some  of  the  plays  which  have  more  than  one 
episode  in  them  may  be  given  in  conclusion: 

York,  Abraham  and  Isaac.  God  hears  the  prayer  of  Abra- 
ham and  demands  the  sacrifice  (scaffold).  Abraham  and 
Isaac  make  ready,  and  ride  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  where 
they  leave  their  asses  in  charge  of  the  servants  and  ascend 
to  the  sacrifice  (pageant). 

York,  The  Angels  and  the  Shepherds.  The  shepherds  have 
met  and  are  in  the  midst  of  a  discussion  (scaffold),  when  the 
star  appears  and  directs  them  to  the  place  where  Christ  is 
born  (pageant). 

York,  The  Entry  into  Jerusalem.  Christ,  after  talking 
with  his  disciples  (scaffold),  mounts  an  ass  and  rides  to  the 
city  (pageant) ,  blessing  the  people  on  the  way. 

Towneley,  First  Shepherds'  Play.  The  shepherds  eat  their 
frugal  meal,  and  then  indulge  in  a  general  wrestling  match 
(scaffold).  After  this  the  Star  of  Bethlehem  appears  and 
directs  them  to  the  holy  manger  (pageant). 

1  There  were  no  doubt  some  whole  cycles,  now  lost,  in  which  the 
single  pageant  wagon  for  each  play  was  all  that  was  needed  or  used. 


28  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

Towneley,  Purification.  Simeon  praying  that  he  may  see 
the  Christ  and  die  (one  scaffold)  is  directed  to  the  temple, 
where  the  bells  are  ringing  (pageant).  Mary  and  Joseph  (on 
another  scaffold)  think  it  time  for  the  purification,  and  start 
for  the  temple.  There  (at  the  pageant)  they  are  all  supposed 
to  meet. 

Chester,  Passion  of  Christ.  Christ  is  sent  from  the  Bishops 
(one  scaffold)  to  Pilate  (on  the  pageant  wagon,  because  most 
of  the  action  takes  place  there),  who  in  turn  sends  him  to 
Herod  (another  scaffold).  He  is  soon  returned  to  Pilate 
(pageant),  where  the  trial,  final  judgment,  and  long  scenes 
of  torture  follow. 

Looking  back  over  the  whole  field  of  the  miracles  and  longer 
moralities,  we  find  that  the  religious  drama  was  staged  in  its 
birthplace  on  and  between  sedes  arranged  in  a  regular  order 
along  the  sanctuary,  choir,  and  nave.  One  branch  from  this 
parent  stock  continued  in  the  open  air  practically  the  same 
form  of  staging  which  it  had  used  in  the  church;  the  other 
branch  placed  the  old  sedes  on  wheels  and  gave  its  plays  suc- 
cessively in  a  processional  manner.  A  very  noticeable 
feature  of  the  staging  throughout  is  the  attempt  to  keep  the 
locations  of  the  different  scenes  distinct;  each  scene  that  is 
localized  or  uses  particular  properties  has  its  own  scaffold, 
and  its  ground  is  not  intruded  on  by  a  differently  propertied 
scene.  Much  of  the  staging  of  this  early  drama  seems  to  us 
crude  and  somewhat  incongruous,  but  a  complete  survey  of 
the  whole  shows  that  its  general  aim,  and  often  its  attainment, 
was  a  method  of  staging  surprisingly  regular,  consistent,  and 
congruous  for  the  age  in  which  it  was  produced. 


CHAPTER  II 
INTERLUDES  AND  SHORTER  MORALITIES 

While  the  old  pageants  were  rolling  on  their  rounds  in  the 
distant  cities  less  and  less  frequently,  a  new  form  of  drama 
was  springing  up  largely  in  and  about  London.  A  more 
portable  as  well  as  a  more  adaptable  form  of  amusement  was 
taking  their  place.  The  courts,  the  universities,  and  the 
general  public  were  beginning  to  demand  plays  not  once  a 
year,  but  as  often  as  they  found  leisure  and  remuneration  for 
the  actors.  The  plays  could  no  longer  command  a  large 
open  space — a  field,  a  cathedral,  or  a  "round" — but  must  be 
given  on  a  single  scaffold  at  one  end  of  a  hall,  at  some  cross, 
or  in  an  inn-yard. 

From  the  usual  idea  of  Elizabethan  staging,1  we  should 
expect  the  most  incongruous  presentation  at  this  early  period 
of  the  drama  and  stage,  but  investigation  reveals  quite  the 
contrary.  We  have  seen  that  in  the  miracle  plays  propertied 
and  located  action  took  place  on  definite  sedes,  whose  settings 
were  always  in  keeping  with  the  action  on  them;  and  that 
unlocated  action  usually  occurred  on  the  plateae  between  the 
domus.  When  the  drama  was  confined  to  one  scaffold,  no 
attempt  was  made  to  change  the  old-time  principles  of  sta- 
ging ;  the  new  play  and  the  new  stage  were  made  to  conform 
to  them. 

Any  grouping  of  this  heterogeneous  mass  of  plays  before 
1570,  here  termed  interludes  and  shorter  moralities,  must  clip 
the  corners  of  many,  but  some  such  a  classification  seems 

1  Cf .  G.  F.  Reynolds,  Some  Principles  of  Elizabethan  Staging,  Modern 
Philology,  April  and  June,  1905 ;  "Trees"  on  the  Stage  of  Shakspeare,  ibid., 
October,  1907;  and  my  discussion  of  these  articles,  infra,  pp.  152-160. 
29 


30  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

advisable  for  a  discussion  of  their  staging.  Roughly,  they 
may  be  grouped  as  follows:  i.  Plays  in  which  the  action  is 
entirely  unlocated  and  requires  no  properties;  that  is,  the 
action  takes  place  on  neutral  ground  in  the  great  somewhere, 
and  no  properties,  such  as  tables,  chairs,  trees,  etc.,  are  needed. 
2.  Plays  with  located  and  propertied  action.  The  stage  for 
this  class  is  set  before  the  play  opens  with  the  properties 
necessary  for  the  action,  and  is  not  cleared  and  re-set  during 
the  performance.  3.  Plays  in  which  the  scenes  are  un- 
located and  require  only  such  properties  as  can  stand  wherever 
needed.  4.  Plays  in  which  the  scenes  are  located  in  or  near 
some  building,  but  in  which  no  properties  are  mentioned  and 
in  most  cases  not  needed.  In  listing  the  plays  under  these 
heads,  first  an  outline  of  a  representative  play  in  each  group 
will  be  given  by  way  of  illustration;  the  most  difficult  rather 
than  the  most  typical  one  will  be  selected  out  of  each  class. 

I.       PLAYS    IN    WHICH    THE    ACTION    IS    ENTIRELY    UNLOCATED 

AND    REQUIRES    NO    STATIONARY    PROPERTIES    IN    THE 

REPRESENTATION 

Respublica,  Act  I,  Scene  i.1  After  the  prologue  has  been 
recited,  Avarice  enters,  contemplating  how  he  may  enrich 
himself  on  Lady  Respublica;  but  suddenly  remembering  his 
unlocked  chests,  he  hastens  home. 

Scene  2.  Adulation,  Insolence,  Oppression  appear;  the 
last  two  soon  persuade  the  first  that  he  should  be  a  great  man 
and  "rule  the  roast"  (roost). 

Scenes  3-4.  Avarice  returns — all  is  safe  at  home — and  the 
four  form  a  league  to  assail  Lady  Respublica.  All  assume 
praiseworthy  names  and  exeunt  for  business. 

Act  II,  Scene  i.  Respublica  enters,  lamenting  the  seri- 
ous condition  of  her  commonwealth, — 

Scene  2. — and  is  soon  joined  by  Avarice,  now  called  Policy. 
He  has  come  to  her  rescue,  but  in  order  fully  to  assist  her,  he 

1  The  division  into  acts  and  scenes  is  according  to  the  sixteenth- 
century  MS.  of  the  play. 


INTERLUDES  AND  SHORTER  MORALITIES      31 

must  have  the  cooperation  of  his  friends,  Honesty,  Reforma- 
tion, and  Authority.     He  goes  out, — 

Scene  3. — and  presently  returns  with  his  helpmates;  a 
league  of  pretended  aid  is  formed. 

Act  III,  Scene  i.  Enter  Respublica.  She  thinks  all  is  go- 
ing well — 

Scene  2. — and  is  very  much  encouraged  by  Adulation, 
who  simply  overflows  with  praises  for  his  companions  and 
their  noble  work. 

Scene  3.  Here  People  appears  with  considerable  mutter- 
ing, but  is  soon  hushed  and  sent  away  to  hope  for  the  future ; 
Respublica,  also,  goes  off  in  contentment. 

Scene  4.  In  comes  Avarice  dragging  his  bags  of  gold,  and 
heartily  greets  Adulation. 

Scenes  5-6.  Oppression  soon  joins  them,  and  later  In- 
solence. After  each  has  told  how  admirably  he  has  succeeded, 
all  hasten  off,  trusting  in  the  goddess,  Occasion. 

Act  IV,  Scene  i.  Respublica  comes  in,  wondering  why  her 
commonwealth  does  not  improve,  and  presently — 

Scene  2. — People  appears  on  the  scene,  saying  that  "he 
mends  as  sour  ale  in  summer,  that  is,  still  worse  and 
worse." 

Scenes  3-4.  Avarice,  Oppression,  and  Insolence  are  at 
hand  to  save  their  cause,  and  soon  succeed  in  sending  the 
lady  away  "to  hope  a  while  longer."  People,  now  at  their 
mercy,  is  shamefully  treated,  and  warned  never  to  complain 
again  to  his  "Rice-pudding-cake"  (Respublica).     All  exeunt. 

Act  V,  Scene  i.  Misercordia  appears,  sent  from  God  in 
behalf  of  the  commonwealth; — 

Scene  2. — and  is  welcomed  by  the  sad  and  distressed  Res- 
publica. 

Scene  3.  Vertus  is  summoned,  and  the  villains  who  have 
been  sucking  the  life  blood  from  the  country  are  at  once 
revealed. 

Scene  4.  Justice  and  Peace  presently  join  them  to  assist 
in  redressing  the  wrongs  of  Respublica,  and  all  go  off  singing( 
to  clothe  her  anew. 

Scene  5.     The  "advisers"  fear  their  doom  has  come,  but 


\ 


32  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

Adulation  hastens  out  to  collect  his  companions  while  Avarice 
remains  to  see  what  he  can  do  with  Respublica. 

Scene  6.  Respublica  enters  with  the  "nymphs  bearing  up 
her  train, "  and  tells  Avarice  to  be  gone. 

Scene  7.  With  the  greatest  timidity  People  advances,  but 
to  his  surprise  finds  a  hearty  welcome;  times  have  changed, 
and  he  has  a  new  coat  and  "  in  his  purse  a  silver  groat. " 

Scenes  8-10.  The  villains  are  tried  before  the  "virtues," 
and  proper  punishment  is  allotted  to  each  by  Nemesis.  And 
with  a  prayer  for  Queen  Mary,  the  Council,  and  the  Common- 
wealth, the  play  closes. 

Here  is  a  play  with  all  the  dignity  of  acts  and  scenes,  and 
yet  the  greatest  care  has  been  taken  by  the  author  to  have  the 
characters  meet  on  neutral  ground,  so  that  the  interlude  could 
be  played  anywhere  and  at  any  time.  Lady  Respublica 
goes  from  here  to  "  wink  "  and  to  dress,  Insolence  "  goes  home," 
Oppression  "abroad,"  Avarice  to  see  "what  feet  about  my 
door  have  trod  " ;  but  the  place  in  which  they  meet  in  the  play 
is  never  mentioned,  nor  are  any  stationary  properties  needed. 

The  following  are  staged  in  much  the  same  manner:  Wit 
and  Science,  Lusty  Juventus,  The  Four  Ps,  God's  Promises, 
New  Custom,  Impatient  Poverty,  Wealth  and  Health,  Play  of 
Love,  Mind,  Will,  and  Understanding,  Disobedient  Child, 
Trial  of  Treasure,  Magnificence,  Albion  Knight. 

II.   PLAYS  WITH  LOCATED  AND  PROPERTIED  ACTION 

Ther sites.  Thersites  introduces  himself  as  the  fellow  about 
whom  all  have  read  in  Homer,  and  proceeds  to  boast  of  his 
great  might  and  bravery.  Turning  at  length  to  Mulciber's 
shop,  located  in  the  rear,  he  calls  for  a  sallet.  After  consider- 
able delay,  he  is  fitted  out  with  a  new  armor  by  the  smith,  and 
steps  forward,  challenging  all  the  old  heroes  of  romance  to 
meet  him  in  open  fight.  His  first  opponent  is  a  snail,  which 
he  assaults  vigorously,  and  after  a  terrible  battle,  compels 
to  draw  in  its  horns.  Miles  has  entered  during  the  combat, 
and  as  Thersites  turns  around  to  exult  in  his  victory,  a  new 
adversary  faces  him;  he  loses  his  courage  in  a  trice,  and  takes 


INTERLUDES  AND  SHORTER  MORALITIES      33 

refuge  behind  his  mother  "in  her  place."  A  letter  is  now 
brought  from  Ulysses,  which  requests  the  old  woman  to  cure 
Telemachus  of  worms  by  her  magic  spells,  and  to  accompany 
him  home  to  dinner  with  her  son.  After  pronouncing  a 
terrible  curse  on  the  worms  which  fully  cures  Telemachus,  she 
goes  within  to  dress  for  the  party.  While  she  is  away, 
Thersites  falls  to  boasting  again, — he  would  kill  even  his 
mother;  but  at  this  juncture  Miles  appears,  and  so  frightens 
the  braggart  that  he  drops  his  club  and  sword  and  flees. 

In  this  interlude  the  stage  was  completely  arranged  before 
the  play  opened,  and  remained  unchanged  during  the  per- 
formance ;  and  every  episode  was  in  perfect  keeping  with  this 
setting.  Nor  was  the  stage-setting  so  simple:  "  Mulciber 
must  have  a  shop  made  in  the  place  and  Thersites  cometh  be- 
fore it";  "And  then  he  goeth  into  his  shop  and  maketh  a 
sallet  for  him."  There  was  a  special  place  prepared  for  the 
mother:  "Then  the  mother  goeth  into  the  place  prepared 
for  her."  A  snail  came  in  and  eventually  drew  in  its  horns; 
and  the  armor  and  sword  of  Thersites  were  made  in  Mulci- 
ber's  shop. 

With  this  play  may  be  classed  the  following :  King  Darius 
(a  banquet  is  served  in  the  council-chamber  and  removed), 
Mankind  (an  open-air  play  beside  a  tree),  Marriage  of  Wit 
and  Science,  Queen  Hester,  The  Summoning  of  Everyman, 
Play  of  the  Weather,  Johan  Johan,  Tyb,  and  Jhon  (the  priest 
is  called  from  a  door  at  some  other  part  of  the  room) ,  Kynge 
Johan,  Mundus  et  Infans,  Nature. 

III.      PLAYS     IN     WHICH     THE     SCENES     ARE     UNLOCATED     AND 

REQUIRE     ONLY     SUCH     PROPERTIES     AS     CAN     STAND 

ANYWHERE 

Calisto  and  Meliboea.1  Scene  i.  Enter  Meliboea.  She  is 
soliloquizing  on  fond  and  foolish  lovers, — 

Scene  2. — when  Calisto  appears  and  pleads  his  love  to  her; 
but  is  spurned.     Exit  Meliboea. 

Scene  3.     Sempronio,  a  parasite,  now  joins  Calisto.     The 

1  I  have  for  convenience  divided  this  play  into  six  scenes. 

3 


34  THE  SHAKSPERIAX  STAGE 

lover  prays  the  parasite,  "  Go  fet  me  my  lute,  and  bring  some 
chair  or  stool  with  thee,  the  argument  of  love  I  may  dispute. " 
Sempronio  obeys,  and  the  dispute  of  love  takes  place;  at  the 
close  the  parasite  promises  aid  and  goes  for  old  Celestina,  the ' 
bawd,  "while  Calisto  will  go  walk  in  his  orchard. " 

Scene  4.  Celestina  enters,  relating  some  of  the  experiences 
she  has  had  with  her  girls.  She  is  looking  for  Sempronio,  who 
"  for  me  about  doth  inquire,  and  it  was  told  me  I  should  find 
him  here. "  Calisto  soon  appears  with  his  accomplices,  but  is 
reminded  at  once  by  the  bawd  that  "  words  are  but  wind,  for 
money  maketh  the  merchant."  He  hastens  off,  and  returns 
in  a  short  time  with  "an  hundred  pieces  of  gold";  at  the  re- 
ceipt of  this,  Celestina  assures  him  that  she  will  "  bring  it  about 
even  as  ye  would." 

Scene  5.  Celestina  and  Meliboea  meet,  and  after  a  long 
argument  in  which  the  bawd  thinks  she  has  accomplished  her 
purpose,  the  two  part,  Meliboea  going  to  her  home  and  the 
other  to  Calisto. 

Scene  6.  Danio,  Meliboea's  father,  is  wandering  about  in  a 
great  quandary  over  his  recent  dream,  when  he  finds  his 
daughter  and  proceeds  at  once  to  tell  her  all  about  it:  There 
seemed  to  be  two  baths,  one  wholesome  and  pleasant  and  the 
other  vile  and  polluted.  Meliboea  was  walking  towards  the 
pure  one,  but  a  "foul,  rough  bitch"  enticed  her  to  the  very 
brink  of  the  other.  Just  as  she  was  about  to  fall  in,  he  awoke 
from  his  slumbers.  Meliboea  recognizes  at  once  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  dream,  and  falling  on  her  knees  before  her 
father,  confesses  her  own  temptation  and  prays  to  "God  for 
grace  all  vice  to  eschew."  The  father  points  the  moral  of 
the  play,  as  usual,  and  they  depart. 

The  stage  in  this  play  is  a  common  meeting  place,  but  never 
once  localized ;  and  so  careful  is  the  author  about  congruity 
that  not  even  a  stool  is  on  the  stage,  but  one  is  brought  on 
for  the  occasion  and  doubtless  removed  when  no  longer  needed. 
The  following  plays  are  in  a  great  measure  like  this :  Cambises 
(containing  a  banquet,  which  is  set  here  just  for  the  occasion, 
"meaning  in  this  place  repast  to  take,"  and  later  "to  the 
court  to    return"),  Nice  Wanton,  Appius    and  Virginia   (a 


INTERLUDES  AND  SHORTER  MORALITIES      35 

coffin  is  brought  on  the  scene.  "Here  let  Virginius  go  about 
the  scaffold"  means  that  he  is  to  walk  around  on  the  stage, 
just  as  we  speak  of  a  man  walking  about  the  house),  Like 
Will  to  Like,  Hycke-S  corner. 

IV.       PLAYS   IN   WHICH  THE   SCENES   ARE   LOCATED   IN    OR   NEAR 

SOME    BUILDING,    BUT   IN   WHICH  NO   PROPERTIES   ARE 

MENTIONED  AND  IN  MOST  CASES  NOT  NEEDED 

There  are  still  a  few  other  plays,  which  scarcely  form  a  class 
and  yet  have  in  common  the  one  characteristic  of  being 
located  in  or  near  some  building.  The  scene  in  John  the 
Evangelist  represents  the  interior  of  a  cathedral,  where  some 
are  walking  and  others  are  listening  to  a  sermon.  This  could 
be  presented  on  a  very  small  stage  with  perhaps  a  pulpit  and 
a  curtained  space  for  a  tiring  room.  The  Interlude  of  Youth 
and  The  Four  Elements  have  no  definite  locations,  but  both 
are  supposed  to  be  played  near  a  tavern;  in  the  first  the 
characters  in  action  hear  a  riot  in  a  neighboring  tavern,  and 
in  the  second  one  of  the  doors  represents  an  entrance  to  an  inn. 

While  no  special  effort  has  been  made  to  classify  all  the 
extant  interludes,  the  majority  of  those  accessible  to  students 
has  been  included  in  the  foregoing  groups.  To  enumerate 
them  again  according  to  their  classes:  I.  Wit  and  Science, 
Lusty  Juventus,  The  Four  Ps,  God's  Promises,  New  Custom, 
Impatient  Poverty,  Wealth  and  Health,  Play  of  Love,  Mind, 
Will,  and  Understanding,  Respublica,  Disobedient  Child,  Trial 
of  Treasure,  Magnificence,  Albion  Knight.  II.  King  Darius, 
Mankind,  The  Marriage  of  Wit  and  Science,  Queen  Hester,  The 
Summoning  of  Everyman,  Play  of  the  Weather,  Johan  Johan, 
Tyb,  and  Jhon,  Kynge  Johan,  Mundus  et  Infans,  Nature, 
Ther sites.  III.  Calisto  and  Meliboea,  Cambises,  Nice  Wanton, 
Appius  and  Virginia,  Like  Will  to  Like,  Hycke-Scorner. 
IV.  John  the  Evangelist,  The  Interlude  of  Youth,  The  Four  Ele- 
ments. This  classification  cannot  be  exact,  but  it  shows  very 
clearly  the  general  principles  on  which  the  dramatists  staged 
their  plays.     It  would  be  hard  to  conceive  of  eny  period  of  a 


36  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

hundred  years  producing  a  cruder  lot  of  plays,  partly  experi- 
mental, partly  following  the  older  religious  drama,  varying  in 
subject,  treatment,  and  merit;  in  fact,  there  is  only  one  prin- 
ciple which  seems  to  underlie  all,  a  principle  not  always  ob- 
served but  far  oftener  than  we  might  at  first  suppose, — that 
of  consistency  in  staging. 

In  the  main,  all  these  plays  according  to  their  staging  fall 
into  two  classes,  propertied  and  unpropertied ;  the  first  being 
usually  definitely  located  because  of  its  setting,  the  second  un- 
located  except  for  its  occasional  connection  with  some  build- 
ing. A  play  once  started  in  either  of  these  classes  seldom 
breaks  over  into  the  other:  if  it  opens  with  the  characters  on 
neutral  ground,  it  closes  in  the  same  way;  if  it  opens  with  a 
definite  setting,  it  keeps  that  setting  throughout  and  the  action 
and  characters  are  so  arranged  as  to  be  always  in  harmony 
with  their  little  stage  world.  Nothing  is  more  noticeable 
than  the  constant  effort  put  forth  to  hold  to  this  principle; 
the  characters  describe  many  important  scenes  in  houses, 
taverns,  woods,  etc.,  all  of  which  are  crying  to  come  on  the 
stage,  but  the  sanctity  of  the  one-scene  stage  allows  the  au- 
dience to  have  only  an  echo  of  the  elsewhere. 

This  was  a  time  when  incongruity  in  staging  was  really 
needed.  Throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  history  of  the 
early  English  drama,  the  typical  play  contained  from  a  few  to 
many  propertied  scenes ;  now  it  must  be  confined  to  one  prop- 
ertied scene.  How  convenient  and  advantageous  it  would 
have  been  in  these  interludes  for  an  actor  to  say  as  he  ap- 
peared on  the  stage,  I  am  now  in  a  dense  forest,  now  on  a 
battle-field,  and  now  in  the  palace  of  the  king!  This,  how- 
ever, the  extant  interludes  show  never  to  have  existed  to  any 
great  extent.  A  bare  stage  could  represent  a  bare  spot  any- 
where on  the  earth,  and  could  be  in  whatever  place,  town,  or 
country  the  actor  located  it  with  his  lines;  but  a  propertied 
stage  had  to  be  the  same  throughout,  not  necessarily  con- 
fined to  one  place  but  distinctly  to  one  kind  of  place, J  and 

1  It  might  be  a  court  in  England  at  one  time  and  the  same  in  Scot- 
land at  another,  but  never,  as  a  rule,  a  room  one  moment  and  a  forest 
the  next. 


INTERLUDES  AND  SHORTER  MORALITIES      37 

the  characters  had  to  belong  there  regularly  or  make  their 
excuse  for  so  appearing. 

Therefore  the  method  of  staging  in  the  interludes  was  only 
a  repetition  of  that  learned  in  the  miracles  and  longer  morali- 
ties. There  could  not  be  here  a  change  from  one  scaffold  to 
another  with  a  vast  deal  of  action  between  them;  the  whole 
stage  was  no  larger  than  one  of  the  old  pageant  wagons.  It 
could,  therefore,  represent  either  a  sedes  or  a  platea,  but  not 
both.  To  these  two  alternatives  the  dramatists  were  con- 
fined, and  to  these  two  they  did  confine  themselves;  they 
wrote  their  plays  either  for  a  sedes  or  for  a  platea.  The  fact 
that  they  labored  through  a  long  period  of  time  under  such 
limitations  shows  that  the  principle  of  congruity  was  firmly 
established  on  the  English  stage  centuries  before  the  first 
permanent  theater  was  built. 

Before  passing  from  the  early  English  drama  to  the  Shaks- 
perian,  we  may  state  the  conclusions  which  we  have  reached 
from  our  study  of  the  staging  of  the  miracles,  moralities,  and 
interludes:  i.  There  were  two  kinds  of  scenes, — those 
requiring  properties  in  the  action  and  therefore  usually  local- 
ized, and  those  requiring  no  properties  in  the  action  and 
consequently  often  unlocalized.  2.  The  action  was  generally 
in  keeping  with  the  stationary  properties.  When  the  time 
came  to  confine  the  story  drama  to  a  single  platform  within 
the  walls  of  the  Theater  and  Curtain,  it  was  necessary  to 
devise  a  stage  on  which  both  propertied  and  unpropertied 
scenes  could  be  given  in  rapid  succession  with  the  action  still 
congruous  with  the  stationary  properties.  And  this,  as  we 
shall  see  in  the  next  chapter,  was  devised. 


CHAPTER  III 
A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

THE   OUTER-INNER   STAGE 

All  the  regular  theaters  of  the  Elizabethan  period,1  but 
one,  were  opened  during  the  lifetime  of  Shakspere:  The 
Theater  and  Curtain  in  1576-7;  Rose,  1592,  Swan,  1594; 
Blackfriars,  1596;  Globe,  1599;  Fortune,  1601 ;  Red  Bull,  1608; 
Hope,  1613;  Cockpit,  1616;  Salisbury  Court,  1629.  The  Red 
Bull,  Cockpit,  and  Salisbury  Court  survived  the  Common- 
wealth, and  were  used  at  the  opening  of  the  Restoration. 
Despite    De  Witt's  statement   that  the  Swan  "is   built   of 

flint and  as  to  shape  seems  to  be  an  imitation  of  Roman 

work,"  these  old  playhouses  have  entirely  disappeared,  and 
no  remains  are  left  to  be  studied  and  cherished.  The  stage, 
however,  of  this  period  still  lives  in  the  Elizabethan  plays: 
they  were  written  expressly  for  that  stage,  and  must  contain 
an  impression  of  at  least  its  main  parts.  One  play  may  show 
one  part,  another  another,  and  only  a  consistent  examination 
of  many  plays  will  give  a  picture  of  the  whole.  Such  an 
examination  is  directed  as  well  as  restrained  by  authentic 
pictures,  contemporary  statements,  fundamental  principles 
of  dramatic  art,  and  the  form  of  the  Restoration  stage, — the 
successor  and  perhaps  the  direct  outgrowth  of  the  Elizabethan. 

There  exist  four  pictures  which  have  usually  passed  as 
illustrations  of  the  Shaksperian  stage:  the  drawing  by  Van 
Buchell  of  the  Swan  stage;  the  sketch  prefixed  to  Kirkman's 
editions  of  The  Wits,  or  Sport  upon  Sport,  generally  known 

>  Elizabethan  is  used  throughout  this  study  for  the  entire  period, 
1576-1648. 

38 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  39 

by  the  title  "Inside  the  Red  Bull  Playhouse";  and  those 
found  in  the  frontispieces  to  the  editions  of  the  tragedies  of 
Rgxana  and  Messallina.  (For  the  sake  of  brevity  these 
prints  and  the  stages  there  represented  will  always  be  re- 
ferred to  as  the  Swan,  Red  Bull,  Roxana,  and  Messallina.) 
A  glance  at  the  four  cuts  will  show  both  similarity 
and  dissimilarity  in  their  stages:  the  Red  Bull  and  Swan 
differ  from  each  other  and  also  from  the  last  two,  while  the 
Roxana  and  Messallina  are  practically  alike.  The  Swan  has 
two  large  doors  at  the  reariand  no  curtain,  the  Red  Bull  one 
door  at  the  rear  closed  by  a  curtain*,  the  Roxana  and  Messal- 
lina a  curtain  extending  across  the  entire  visible  rear  of  the 
outer  stage,— a  space  not  less  than  twenty  feet.  These  con- 
ditions, alone,  if  the  pictures  are  all  genuine,  make  it  impossible 
to  establish  a  typical  stage  of  the  period.  Therefore,  a  search- 
ing inquiry  must  first  be  made  as  to  the  origin  of  these  plates. 
Mr.  W.  J.  Lawrence,  in  an  article  in  Englische  Studien,  vol. 
32, 1  has  stated  succintly  about  all  the  definite  proof  that 
can  be  collected  against  the  Swan  picture.  The  headings  of 
his  argument  are  as  follows:  "1.  It  is  at  best  but  'hearsay 
evidence,'  being  a  drawing  of  one  Arend  van  Buchell  from 
the  instructions  of  his  friend  Johannes  de  Witt.  2.  It  is 
undated.  3.  It  is  self-contradictory.  4.  It  affords  no  in- 
dication of  the  upper  or  lower  traverses."  The  facts  which 
he  has  here  clearly  and  concisely  stated  are  strong  evidences 
against  the  German  drawing.  To  his  work  I  would  add  only 
a  few  statements,  or  rather  amplify  what  is  there  implied. 
1.  Many  of  the  Elizabethan  plays,  conforming  to  a  funda- 
mental principle  of  acting,  demand  a  straight  passage  across 
the  stage.  Two  doors  close  together  on  the  same  plane  make 
this  impossible.  2.  This  picture  shows  no  curtains,  although 
plays  from  Marlowe  to  Shirley  call  for  a  curtain.  3.  Any 
attempts  to  supply  this  stage  with  a  curtain  leads  to  two 
difficulties:  first,  it  makes  a  clumsy,  awkward  arrangement; 
and  second,  it  creates  a  stage  entirely  out  of  harmony  with 
any  European  or  succeeding  English  stage. 

•  Cf.  W.  J.  Lawrence,  "  Some  Characteristics  of  the  Elizabethan- 
Stuart  Stage,"  Englische  Studien,  vol.  xxxii,  pp.  44-48. 


40  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

The  truth  about  the  plate  seems  to  me  to  be  this.  It  is  a 
picture  drawn  on  hearsay  evidence  by  a  man  unacquainted 
with  the  art  of  acting,  and,  as  a  result,  is  impracticable,  self- 
contradictory,  and  lacks  some  of  the  necessary  parts;  those 
which  are  here,  however,  as  doors,  gallery,  "hut,"  etc.,  un- 
doubtedly existed  in  the  Elizabethan  stage,  but  the  exact 
location  of  these  parts,  as  well  as  the  supplying  of  those  that 
are  wanting,  must  be  determined  by  other  contemporary 
evidence. 

The  Red  Bull  picture  forms  the  frontispieces  to  Francis 
Kirkman's  editions  of  the  Drolls,  a  collection  of  comic,  one- 
act  scenes  played  during  the  Commonwealth  and  published 
in  the  Restoration,  under  the  title  of  The  Wits,  or  Sport  upon 
Sport, — Pt.  I  in  1672,  Pt.  II  in  1673,  and  a  collected  edition 
of  I  and  II  later  in  1673. *  There  is  absolutely  no  title  to  the 
cuts,  and  the  title-pages  and  prefaces  state  that  these  scenes 
were  played  "When  the  publique  Theatres  were  shut  up," 
"in  London  at  Bartholomew  Faire,  in  the  Country  at  other 
Faires.  In  Halls  and  Taverns.  On  several  Mountebancks 
Stages,  at  Charing-Cross,  Lincoln-Inn- Fields,  and  other  places. 
By  several  Stroking  Players,  Fools,  and  Fidlers,  and  the 
Mountebancks  Zanies. "  2  In  the  Preface  of  Pt.  II  there  is  a 
passing  remark  about  the  chance  performances  in  the  Red 
Bull  theater,  and  from  this  the  name  has  been  unauthori- 
tative^ applied  to  this  crude  little  stage;  and  the  picture  is 
now  published  in  books  on  the  Elizabethan  drama  with 
the  title,  "Inside  the  Red  Bull  Playhouse." 

A  short  review  of  the  history  of  the  closing  of  the  theaters 
will  show  the  state  of  the  Red  Bull  stage  during  the  Common- 
wealth. On  September  12,  1642,  an  Ordinance3  of  the  Lords 
and  Commons  was  published  which  commanded  "that  while 
these  sad  causes  and  set  times  of  humiliation  do  continue, 


»  An  edition  was  published  by  Marsh  in  1662,  but,  so  far  as  is  known, 
contained  no  drawings. 

» Title-page  of  Part  II. 

3  Ordinance  of  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  for  the  suppressing  of 
public  stage  playes  throughout  the  kingdom  during  these  calamitous 
times.     Repr.  Collier's  English  Dramatic  Poetry,  vol.  ii,  p.  105. 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  41 

publick  stage-plays  shall  cease  and  be  forborne."  In  1647 
the  war  was  virtually  at  an  end,  and  the  theatrical  world  was 
again  hopeful;  but  on  July  17th  the  House  of  Parliament 
renewed  the  Ordinance,  fixing  its  date  of  expiration  at  January 

I,  1648.  During  the  year  an  attempt  was  made  to  give  Beau- 
mont and  Fletcher's  play,  A  King  and  No  King,  but  the  sheriff 
immediately  broke  up  the  performance  and  arrested  the 
leading  actor.  When  January  1st  came  around,  the  play- 
houses promptly  proceeded  to  open  their  doors.  At  the 
Fortune  something  like  one  hundred  and  twenty  coaches  set 
down  their  passengers;  the  Red  Bull  opened  with  Beaumont 
and  Fletcher's  Wit  without  Money,  and  the  Cockpit  with 
another  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  plays,  The  Bloody 
Brother.  The  last  performance  was  cut  short  by  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  squad  of  soldiers  at  the  door,  who  arrested  the 
actors  and  put  them  into  temporary  imprisonment. 

Parliament  was  now  thoroughly  aroused,  and  on  February 

I I ,  1 648,  passed  a  final  Ordinance :  "  And  it  is  further  ordered 
and  ordained  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  the  Lord  Mayor, 
Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  Sheriffs  of  the  City  of  London  and 
Westminster,  and  of  the  Counties  of  Middlesex  and  Surrey, 
or  any  two  or  more  of  them,  shall  and  may  and  are  hereby 
authorised  and  required  to  pull  down  and  demolish,  or  cause 
or  procure  to  be  pulled  down  and  demolished,  all  Stage  Gal- 
leries, Seats  and  Boxes,  erected  or  used,  or  which  shall  be 
erected  and  used,  for  the  acting  or  playing,  or  being  acted  or 
played,  such  Stage-playes,  etc." l  Their  object  was  to  remove 
the  temptation  from  the  actors  by  making  it  utterly  impossible 
to  give  a  play,  and  therefore  the  insides  of  the  theaters  were 
completely  stripped  of  all  those  appliances  which  were  thought 
necessary  to  the  production  of  a  play,  such  as  stage  galleries, 
boxes,  etc.,  and  perhaps  nothing  but  the  bare  walls  were  left 
standing.  This  was  the  condition  of  the  Red  Bull  at  the 
time  of  the  Drolls. 

That  the  picture  first  printed  in  1672  had  no  connection 
with  the  Elizabethan  stage  is  further  proven  by  the  fact  that 

« Scobell's  Collection  of  Acts  &  Ordinances.     The  one  here  referred 
to  is  reprinted  in  Collier's  English  Dramatic  Poetry,  vol.  ii,  p.  114. 


42  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

it  shows  only  a  bare  platform  with  a  curtain  hung  across  the 
single  door,  while  the  Red  Bull  stage  was  the  scene  of  some 
specially  propertied  plays,  such  as  Heywood's  Ages,  with 
their  forests,  battle  fields,  council  chambers,  ascending  and 
descending  gods,  large  properties,  large  "discovered  scenes," 
and  a  frequent  call  for  "one  door — the  other  door — several 
doors."  Moreover,  the  print  shows  a  stage  with  branches  and 
rabbit-eared  foot-lights,  but  the  Red  Bull  needed  no  such 
artificial  lighting.  "The  Globe,  Fortune,  and  Red  Bull  were 
large  houses  and  lay  partly  open  to  the  weather,  and  they 
always  acted  by  daylight."1 

The  solution  of  the  matter  is  not  difficult.  These  comic 
scenes  or  episodes,  existing  at  a  time  when  the  stages  in  the 
regular  theaters  were  torn  down,  were  played  on  hastily  im- 
provised stages  anywhere  throughout  the  country.  The  ever 
present  Puritan  law  forbade  the  actors  to  build  a  regular 
stage ;  and,  more  than  this,  a  single  platform  was  all  that  was 
needed  for  the  Drolls.  "Then  all  that  we  could  divert  our- 
selves with  were  these  Humours  and  pieces  of  plays,  which 
passing  under  the  name  of  merry  conceited  Fellows  called 
Bottom  the  Weaver,  Simpleton  the  Smith,  John  Swabber, 
or  some  such  title  were  only  allowed  us,  and  that  by  stealth 
too,  and  under  pretense  of  rope  dancing  or  the  like.  .  .  . 
'  Enter  Red  Coat  and  exit  Hat  and  Cloak '  was  very  true, 
not  only  in  the  Audience,  but  the  Actors  too  were  commonly 
not  only  stripped,  but  many  times  imprisoned."  2 

Kirkman  is  outspoken  in  his  purpose:  "Now  I  must  tell 
you,  my  Plot  with  these  Humorurs  is  clearly  for  sale;  for  I 
intend  to  raise  no  other  Reputation  to  myself  than  that  of 
ready  money;  and  that  I  only  bespeak  in  these  preparatory 
Lines."3  The  collection  seems  to  have  been  published  largely 
for  strolling  companies  and  occasional  entertainments,  and 
the  prefaces  strongly  recommend  it  for  such  use.  "As  for 
those  Players  who  intend  to  wander  and  go  a  stroleing,  this 
very  Book,  and  a  few  ordinary  properties  is  enough  to  set 

1  James  Wright,  Historia  Histrionica.  Repr.  Hazlitt's  Dodslcy,  vol. 
xiv. 

3  Preface  to  Part  II.  >  Preface  to  Part  I. 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  43 

them  up,  and  get  money  in  any  Town  in  England.  And  Fid- 
dlers purchasing  of  this  Book  have  a  sufficient  stock  for  all 
Feasts  and  Entertainments.  And  if  the  Mountebancks  will 
but  carry  the  Book,  and  three  or  four  young  Fellows  to  Act 
what  is  here  set  down  for  them,  it  will  most  certainly  draw 
in  auditors  enough,  who  must  needs  purchase  their  Drugs, 
Potions,  and  Balsoms.  This  Book  is  also  of  great  use  at  Sea, 
as  well  as  on  Land,  for  the  merry  Saylors  in  long  Voyages, 
to  the  East  and  West  Indies."  1 

To  further  advertise  the  simplicity  of  the  plays  and  the  ease 
with  which  they  could  be  given,  he  attaches  the  picture  of  a 
plain  stage,  real  or  imaginary,  with  some  of  his  characters 
upon  it.  "Clause"  is  a  leading  figure  in  The  Lame  Common- 
wealth, 2  the  "French  Dancing  Mr."  in  the  Humours  of  Mon- 
sieur Galliard,3  "Sr.  I.  Falstafe"  and  "Hostes"  in  The 
Bouncing  Knight,4  "Bubble,"  shouting  "Tue  quo  que,"  in 
The  Bubble,5  and  "Simpleton"  in  Simpleton  the  Smith,6 
in  which  role  Robert  Cox  seems  always  to  have  made  a  "hit" 
when  he  appeared  with  a  great  piece  of  bread  and  butter, 
complaining  "that  a  man  cannot  be  left  undisturbed  to  eat 
a  little  bit  for  his  afternoon  lunchin." 

We  may  conclude,  therefore,  that  this  picture  in  no  sense 
represents  an  Elizabethan  stage,  but  a  stage  for  the  Drolls, 
and  was  published  with  Kirkman's  editions  of  the  Drolls 
largely  for  advertisement.  Perhaps  it  was  drawn  partly 
from  imagination  and  partly  from  the  actual  performance 
of  plays  on  hastily  constructed  platforms  for  the  nonce 
in  the  ruined  theaters,  private  houses,  halls,  inn-yards, 
anywhere  and  at  any  time  the  law-defying  actors  could  get 
a  stand.7 

The  Roxana  picture  forms  part  of  the  frontispiece  to  the 


1  Preface  to  Part  II.  2  Taken  from  The  Beggars'  Bush. 

3  The  Variety.  *  /  Henry  IV. 

s  Greene's  Tu  Quoque.  6  An  independent  farce. 

7 1  have  undertaken  to  edit  The  Wits,  or  Sport  upon  Sport  from 
Kirkman's  collected  edition  of  1673.  This  rare  collection,  besides 
being  very  interesting  in  itself,  represents  a  distinct  period  in  the 
English  drama 


44  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

Tragedy  of  Roxana.1  The  full  title-page  reads:  "Roxana 
Tragaedia  a  plagiarii  unguibus  Vindicata,  aucta,  &  agnita  ab 
authore  Gulielmo  Alabastro.  Londini,  Excudebat  Gulielmus 
Jones,  1632."  "William  Alabaster  was  born  at  Hadleigh, 
Suffolk;  scholar  of  Westminster  school;  elected  to  Trinity, 
Cambridge,  1583;  M.A.  'ad  eundem'  Oxford,  July  7th,  1592; 
chaplain  to  Robert  Earl  of  Essex  in  the  Cadiz  voyage,  1595; 
became  a  Roman  Catholic,  but  returned  to  the  Church  of 
England ;  appointed  prebendary  of  St.  Paul's,  D.D.  and  Rector 
of  Tharfield,  Hertfordshire.  Died  April,  1640. "2  The  Tragedy 
of  Roxana  "was  several  times  acted  at  Trinity,  Cambridge.  " 2 
The  life  of  the  author,  the  Latin  language  in  which  the  play  is 
written,  and  the  place  where  it  was  acted,  all  indicate  that  it  is 
a  college  play,  and  the  stage  on  its  frontispiece  a  college  stage, 
perhaps  that  of  Trinity. 

The  Messallina  picture  is  found  in  the  lower  central  part  of 
the  frontispiece  to  the  Tragedy  of  Messallina.  The  title- 
page  in  full  is  as  follows:  "The  Tragedy  of  Messallina,  The 
Roman  Empresse.  As  it  hath  beene  Acted  With  generall 
applause  divers  times,  by  the  Company  of  his  Majesties 
Revells.  Written  by  Nathanael  Richards,  'Optimus  hie  & 
fomosissimus  idem  Gentis  patritiae  rapitur  miser  extin- 
guendus.  Messallinae  oculis,'  Iuvenal,  Satyr.  10.  London, 
Printed  by  Tho.  Cotes  for  Daniel  Frere,  at  the  signe  of  the  Red 
Bull  in  Little  Brittains,  1640."  The  introductory  verse  by 
Tho.  Rawlins  "To  his  worthy  Friend  Mr.  Nathanael  Rich- 
ards, upon  his  Tragedy  of  Messallina"  ends  with  this  couplet: 

"  Applaud  that  happy  wit  whose  veines  can  stirre 
Religious  thoughts,  though  in  a  Theator. " 

The  Prologue  and  Epilogue  are  impersonal  in  their  appeal 
and  have  the  tone  of  the  regular  public  play.  A  couplet 
from  the  latter  shows  distinctly  that  the  play  was  written  for  a 
theater: 

>  Cf.  G.  B.  Churchill  and  W.  Keller,  "Die  lateinischen  Universitats- 
Dramen  in  der  Zeit  der  Konigen  Elizabeth,"  Shakespeare  Jahrbuch, 
vol.  xxxiv,  p.  252. 

2F.  G.  Fleay,  Chronicle  of  the  English  Drama,  vol.  i,  p.  23. 


Frontispiece  to  the    Tragedy  of  MessalUna 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  45 

"  Why  should  we  doubt  ?     This  Theater  do  's  appeare 
The  Musicke  Rome  of  concord;  you  being  here. " 

As  already  stated,  it  was  acted  by  the  Revels  Company. 
Among  the  list  of  actors  opposite  the  dramatis  personae 
are  Will  Cartwright,  who  had  been  an  actor  at  the  Fortune, 
and  Christopher  Good,  a  former  member  of  the  Queen's  men. 
Fleay  states,  "For  the  Revels  Company  acting  at  the  Bull, 
from  1635  to  1637,  Rawlins  and  Richards  wrote."1  Among 
the  plays  of  Richards,  acted  at  the  Red  Bull  by  the  Revels, 
may  have  been  the  Tragedy  of  Messallina. 

To  sum  up,  the  Tragedy  of  Messallina  is  an  English  play 
published  within  the  Elizabethan  period,  and  "acted  with 
generall  applause  divers  times,  by  the  Company  of  his  Majes- 
ties Revells,"  "in  a  Theator."  The  Revels  acted  at  different 
theaters,  among  which  was  the  Red  Bull,  where  they  gave 
Richards's  plays.  The  picture  on  the  frontispiece  shows  a 
permanently  constructed  stage  with  a  curtain  under  the 
outer  edge  of  the  gallery  and  a  solid  railing  around  the  outer 
stage.  Strong  evidences,  therefore,  point  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  Messallina  is  a  picture  of  a  regular  Elizabethan 
stage,  and  may  be  that  of  the  Red  Bull. 

The  result  of  our  research  on  the  four  pictures  stands  as 
follows:  the  Swan  and  Red  Bull  are  fairly  challenged,  if  not 
completely  disproved;  the  Roxana  and  Messallina  may  be 
accepted  as  authentic  pictures,  the  former  showing  a  college 
stage  of  the  period  and  the  latter  a  regular  public  Elizabethan 
stage,  perhaps  that  of  the  Red  Bull.  (As  these  two  stages 
are  one  in  principle,  we  shall  regularly  refer  hereafter  only  to 
the  Messallina.)  The  problem  now  remains  to  establish  a 
typical  Elizabethan  stage,  first,  by  means  of  such  proof  as 
may  be  collected  outside  of  the  plays,  and  second,  by  the  aid 
of  the  plays  themselves. 

Some  evidence  outside  of  the  plays  may  be  derived  from  a 
study  of  the' origin  and  form  of  the  Restoration  stage.     The 

■  F.  G.  Fleay,  "The  History  of  the  Theatres  in  London  from  their 
first  opening  in  1576  to  their  closing  in  1642,"  Royal  Historical  Society 
Transactions,  vol.   10,  p.   129. 


40  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

theaters  were  partially  closed  in  1642,  but  not  finally  until 
February  11,  1648.  On  May  26,  1656,  an  entertainment  was 
given  by  Davenant  in  "the  back  part  of  the  Rutland  House," 
and,  later  in  the  year,  the  Siege  of  Rhodes  at  the  same  place. 
In  1658  Davenant  produced  at  the  Cockpit,  The  Cruelties  of 
the  Spaniards  in  Peru,  and  in  1659,  The  History  of  Sir  Francis 
Drake.  Before  1660  a  second  company  had  collected  at  the 
Red  Bull,  and  a  third  began  to  act  at  Salisbury  Court.  On 
August  21,  1660,  Charles  II  issued  a  patent  granting  to  Sir 
William  Davenant  and  Thomas  Killigrew  the  right  of  creating 
two  companies  of  players.  Davenant  began  his  work  that 
year  in  Salisbury  Court,  but  also  continued  to  use  the  Cock- 
pit; Killigrew  opened  with  a  new  theater  in  Vere  Street,  Clare 
Market,  November  8,  1660,  but  still  retained  the  Red  Bull 
under  his  management.  In  1662  Davenant  moved  to  his  new 
theater  in  Portugal  Row,  *  but  maintained  the  Cockpit  and 
Salisbury  Court  for  some  time.  On  January  15,  1662,  a 
patent  was  granted  to  Davenant  for  a  new  theater,  and  on 
April  25th  the  same  was  granted  to  Killigrew.  2  On  April 
8,  1663,  at  three  o'clock,  Killigrew  opened  the  new  Theater 
Royal  in  Drury  Lane  with  the  Humorous  Lieutenant,  3  and 
November  9,  1671,  Davenant's  heirs  opened  the  Duke's 
theater  in  Dorset  Garden  with  Sir  Martin  Mar-all.* 

The  English  theater,  therefore,  was  closed  about  ten  years, 
during  which  time  the  Drolls  were  being  played  here,  there, 
and  everywhere.  The  Restoration  drama  opened  in  the 
old  Elizabethan  theaters, — Cockpit,  Red  Bull,  and  Salisbury 
Court.  Killigrew  built  at  once,  but  Davenant  continued  for 
over  a  year  in  Salisbury  Court  and  Cockpit.  These  facts  show 
that  there  was  no  great  break  between  the  two  periods.  The 
stages  themselves  were  torn  down  in  1648,  and  just  how  they 
were  rebuilt  at  the  opening  can  not  be  determined,  though, 
from  a  remark  by  Davenant  that  the  place  for  the  scenery, 

1 C/.  John  Downes,  Roscius  Anglicanus. 

2  Cf.  Patents  reprinted  in  Fitzgerald's  New  History  of  the  English 
Stage,  vol.  i,  pp.  73-80. 

3  Cf.  play-bill  for  the  opening  day,  Fitzgerald,  vol.  i,  p.  87. 
*  Cf.  John  Downes,  Roscius  Anglicanus. 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  47 

or  "scenes,"  was  only  eleven  feet  high,  it  would  seem  that 
even  the  old  gallery  was  again  erected. 

The  first  pictures  that  we  have  of  a  Restoration  playhouse 
are  those  of  the  Duke's  theater,  built  in  1671.  They  are 
found  in  the  edition  of  Settle's  Empress  of  Morocco.  The  full 
title  page  is:  "The  Empress  of  Morocco,  a  Tragedy.  With 
Sculptures.  As  it  is  Acted  at  the  Duke's  Theatre.  Written 
by  Elkanah  Settle,  Servant  to  his  Majesty.  '  Primos  da  versi- 
bus  annos.'  Petr.  Arb.  London,  Printed  for  William  Cade- 
man  at  the  Popes-head  in  the  Lower  Walks  of  the  New 
Exchange  in  the  Strand,  1673."  This  publication  contains 
one  cut  of  the  exterior  and  four  of  the  stage,  the  last  one  of 
which  is  here  reprinted  for  the  purpose  of  study  and  com- 
parison.    (Plate  6.) 

Now  let  us  examine  carefully  the  different  parts  of  this 
stage.     There  is  one  scenic  opening,  perhaps  25  feet  square, 
where  the  curtain  plays  back  and  forth ;  behind  this  is  a  stage 
of  the  same  width  and  height  as  the  scenic  opening  and  from 
15  to  25  feet  in  depth, *bn  which  are  located  all  the  properties, 
— this  we  will  call  the  inner  stage ;  before  the  curtain,  the  stage 
extends  towards  the  audience  to  a  considerable  distance,  even 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  picture, — this  we  will  term  the  outer  ^ 
stage;  on  either  side  of  the  outer  stage  is  seen  the  edge  of  a 
door, — these  two  openings  are  usually  known  as  the  pro- 
scenium doors,  as  they  are  the  regular  entrances  to  the  outer*' 
stage ;  and  over  either  door  is  a  large  balcony  window  or  door 
witn  a  railing  before  it.     Therefore,  the  Restoration  stage 
contained  five  distinct  parts, — inner  stage  and  outer  stage    . 
with  a  curtain  between  them,  proscenium  doors  leading  on 
to  the  outer  stage,  and  balcony  windows  over  the   doors. 
The  location  of  the  properties  will  be  considered  in  Chapter 
V,  but  we  may  note  here,  in  passing,  that  the  setting  is  all    . 
on  the  inner  stage,  and  that  the  outer  is  entirely  bare. 

Comparing  the  Messallina  with  this  picture,  we  find  certain 
parts  in  common.  There  is  an  outer  stage  with  a  curtain, 
perhaps  25  feet  wide,  across  the  rear,  and  evidences  of  a 
space  behind  this  curtain,  which  corresponds  to  the  Res- 
toration inner  stage.      The  only  real  difference  here,  so   far 


48  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

as  the  Messallina  is  visible,  lies  in  a  gallery,  which  cuts 
the  inner  stage  horizontally  into  two  stories,  an  upper  and  a 
lower,  each  about  12  feet  high,  while  in  the  Duke's  this 
partition  is  removed  and  all  is  one  story,  perhaps  25  feet  in 
height. 

The  picture  of  the  Duke's  stage  is  cut  so  close  on  either 
side  that  it  seems  a  mere  chance  that  we  are  left  a  glimpse  of 
the  proscenium  doors.  In  the  Messallina  print  the  sides  of 
the  stage,  up  even  with  the  ends  of  the  gallery,  are  covered 
with  the  encroaching  pictures  of  the  "sheep  "  and  the  "goat." 
That  fair-sized  corners  of  the  outer  stage  are  cut  off  is  evident 
from  the  railing, — only  four  posts  are  visible  in  the  side 
railing,  which  cannot  possibly  represent  more  than  half  of 
the  length  of  these  diverging  sides.  Since  the  outer  and 
inner  stage,  separated  by  a  curtain,  tally  in  the  two  pictures, 
we  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  corners  of  these 
stages  were  also  alike;  that  is,  there  was  a  proscenium  door 
on  either  side  of  the  stage  shown  in  the  Messallina  picture 
just  where  it  is  found  in  the  Duke's.  If  the  Restoration  did 
not  get  the  idea  of  the  outer-inner  stage  with  proscenium 
doors  from  the  Elizabethan  stage,  where  did  it  come  from? 
The  accompanying  cut  (Plate  7)  of  the  stage  of  Richelieu, 
opened  January  14,  1641,  shows  a  picture-frame  stage.  This 
is  what  the  English,  seeking  refuge  in  France  during  the  Com- 
monwealth, had  before  them,  and  certainly  no  one  would  think 
of  devising  the  duplex  Restoration  stage  from  this  picture- 
frame  stage  of  Richelieu.  Is  it  not  more  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  it  is  simply  a  modified  form  of  the  old  Elizabethan  stage  ? 
The  outer  stage  and  proscenium  doors  are  one  and  inseparable. 
To  anticipate  a  little  our  discussion  of  the  plays,  what  use 
vould  there  be  of  an  outer  stage  without  a  means  of  entrance? 
If  characters  entered  through  the  curtains,  then  why  have  a 
curtain  ?  An  actor  would  certainly  not  walk  out  from  behind 
the  curtain  only  to  turn  around  and  discover  to  himself  some 
object  or  person  by  drawing  the  curtain. 

The  warlike  history  of  this  combination — outer  stage  and 
proscenium  doors — through  the  next  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  shows  that  it  was  not  a  temporary  device,  but  deeply 


Tlate  7.— Stage  of  Richelieu  in  1641 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  49 

rooted  in  the  very  structure  of  the  English  drama.  In  1699 
Christopher  Rich  slightly  remodeled  the  old  Drury  Lane 
theater,  cutting  away  about  four  feet  of  the  outer  stage  and 
changing  the  location  of  the  doors  a  little.  From  this  time 
on  the  outer  stage  was  gradually  shortened  and  used  less  and 
less  as  a  place  of  action,  but  not  till  1780  did  Drury  Lane  at- 
tempt to  take  away  the  doors  and  put  boxes  in  their  places. 
However,  the  need  for  the  old  arrangement  was  yet  so  great 
that  in  a  short  time  they  were  replaced.  In  1782  Covent 
Garden  followed  the  example  of  Drury  Lane  but  was  equally 
unsuccessful,  and  in  1792  the  doors  were  back  again.  In  1793 
Drury  Lane  made  another  attempt  but  failed.  In  181 2  the 
New  Drury  Lane  theater  was  opened  and  the  proscenium 
doors  were  missing ;  but  after  trying  the  new  arrangement  for 
a  few  seasons  the  historic  doors  were  restored  to  their  former 
place.  In  1822  they  were  taken  away  from  Drury  Lane  never 
to  return  as  permanent  fixtures,  and  in  1823  Covent  Garden 
followed  the  same  custom. 

The  inner  stage  during  these  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
gradually  grew  deeper  and  the  outer  stage  shallower,  until 
finally  both  outer  stage  and  proscenium  doors  disappeared. 
They  had  not  gone,  however,  but  only  passed  within  the 
proscenium  arch  and  were  there  temporarily  constructed 
whenever  needed.  Even  to-day  they  may  occasionally  be 
seen  in  this  disguised  form.  The  modern  "drop,"  joined  at 
both  ends  by  "wings"  with  doors  in  them,  makes  a  structure 
very  similar  to  the  outer  stage  and  proscenium  doors  of  three 
hundred  years  ago.  Here  the  clog  dancer  finds  his  place 
between  the  acts  in  vaudeville  performances,  and  many  a  scene 
in  the  cheaper  melodramas  is  given  on  this  new-old  outer  stage. 

The  Restoration  stage  and  its  succeeding  history  show  both 
the  presence  and  persistence  of  the  proscenium  doors.  The 
Messallina  picture  as  it  stands  is  wholly  neutral,  offering  no 
proof  for  or  against  doors.  There  seems  to  be  a  prevailing 
amount  of  evidence,  therefore,  in  favor  of  supposing  that  on 
both  sides  of  the  outer  stage  in  the  cut-off  corners  there  were 
proscenium  doors,  arranged  much  the  same  as  we  find  them 
in  the  Duke's  theater. 


50  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

Just  over  either  proscenium  door  in  the  Duke's  stage  is  an 
arched  opening  with  a  balustrade  before  it,  which  serves  both 
for  a  balcony  window  and  door.  Here  again,  the  Messallina 
being  neutral,  and  no  precedent  for  such  an  arrangement  in 
the  French  theaters,  and  no  proof  to  the  contrary,  we  may 
suppose  that,  in  the  Elizabethan  stage,  over  the  proscenium 
doors  and  on  the  same  plane  with  the  gallery,  were  balcony 
windows. 

So  far,  there  would  be  but  one  main  difference  between  the 
Restoration  and  Elizabethan  stage — namely,  that  of  the  gal- 
lery or  two-storied  inner  stage.  While  no  proof  exists,  yet 
a  reasonable  explanation  may  be  offered  for  the  absence  of 
this  feature  in  the  Duke's  stage.  The  English  during  their 
stay  in  France  had  learned  the  advantage  of  painted  scenery 
or  the  "art  of  perspective  in  scenes,"  and  on  their  return  they 
would  wish  to  introduce  this  into  the  English  theaters.  The 
old  gallery  stood  seriously  in  the  way  of  this  new  element. 
Davenant  seems  to  have  chafed  under  its  presence  for  some 
time,  which  shows  that  it  was  becoming  a  nuisance,  and  at 
least  by  1673 — the  date  of  the  pictures  of  the  Duke's  theater 
— it  was  gone,  and  the  whole  inner  stage  given  up  to  one 
setting.  When  old  and  new  elements  clash,  the  old  usually 
go,  and  this  seems  to  have  been  the  fate  of  the  gallery. 

Before  we  sum  up  our  conception  of  the  stage  from  external 
proofs,  let  us  notice  that  the  figures  of  the  Contract  for  Building 
the  First  Fortune  Theater1  in  no  way  clash  with  our  ideas, 
but  on  the  contrary  support  them.  "The  said  howse  to  be 
sett  square,  and  to  conteine  flowerscore  foote  of  lawful  assize 
everye  waie  square,  without,  and  fiftie  five  foote  of  like  assize 
square,  every  waie  within ;  .  .  .  and  the  saide  frame  to  conteine 
three  stories  in  height,  the  first  or  lower  storie  to  conteine 
twelve  foote  of  lawful  assize  in  heighth.the  second  storie  eleaven 
foote  of  lawful  assize  in  heighth,  and  the  third  or  upper  storie 
to  conteine  nine  foote  of  lawful  assize  in  heighth.  All  which 
stories  shall  conteine  twelve  foote  and  a  half  of  lawful  assize 
in  breadth  throughoute,  besides  a  juttey  forwards  in  eyther  of 

1  Repr.  G.  P.  Baker,  Development  of  Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatist, 
Appendix. 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  51 

the  saide  two  upper  stories  of  tene  ynches  of  lawful  assize ;  .  .  . 
with  a  stadge  and  tyreinge-howse,  to  be  made,  erected,  and 
sett  upp  within  the  saide  frame ;  .  .  .  and  which  stadge  shall 
conteine  in  length  fortie  and  three  foote  of  lawfull  assize,  and 
in  breadth  to  extende  to  the  middle  of  the  yards  of  the  said 
howse ;  and  the  same  stadge  to  be  paled  in  belowe  with  goode 
stronge  and  sufficyent  new  oken  boardes ;  .  .  .  and  the  said 
stadge  to  be  in  all  other  proportions  contryved  and  fash- 
ioned like  unto  the  stadge  of  the  saide  Play  house  called  the 
Globe." 

If  we  are  to  infer  from  this  that  the  second  balcony  extended 
all  the  way  around,  and  that  the  first  was  on  a  level  with 
the  lower  stage,  it  would  make  the  stage  gallery  13^  feet  deep 
and  the  inner  stage  12  feet  high.  These  dimensions  agree 
very  well  with  the  apparent  size  of  the  gallery  and  inner  stage 
in  the  Messallina  print.  Again  the  stage  was  to  extend  forth 
into  the  pit  and  be  "paled  in,"  both  of  which  features  are 
just  what  we  find  in  the  two  authentic  pictures  of  the  Eliza- 
bethan stage.  From  such  inferences  as  we  can  gather  from 
all  sources,  independent  of  the  plays,  the  following  seems  to 
be  the  form  of  the  Shaksperian  stage:  an  outer  stage,  20  to  30 
feet  deep  and  20  to  25  feet  wide  at  the  curtain;  a  proscenium 
door  at  either  side  of  the  same  with  a  balcony  window  above 
it;  an  inner  stage  at  the  rear  10  to  12  feet  deep,  20  to  25  feet 
wide,  and  12  feet  high,  with  a  gallery  of  the  same  length  and 
breadth  just  over  it;  and  a  curtain  20  to  25  feet  by  12  feet 
playing  between  the  outer  and  inner  stage,  and  discovering 
and  closing  the  latter. 

With  this  outline  before  us  we  will  now  turn  to  the  plays 
and  seek  to  establish  a  typical  stage.  Each  part  of  the  stage 
will  be  taken  up  separately  and  illustrations  given  to  prove 
the  use  and  necessity  of  the  same. 


I.       A    FAIR-SIZED    SPACE    CLOSED    BY   A    CURTAIN 

Before  attempting  to  locate  the  curtained  space,  we  will 
first  show  by  giving  a  few  stage  directions  from  the  quartos 


52  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

and  folios  that  such  a  space  actually  existed,  and  that  it  was 
of  considerable  size 

II  Tamburlaine,  II,  3.  "The  arras  is  drawen,  and  Zeno- 
crate  lies  in  her  bed  of  state,  Tamburlaine  sitting  by  her, 
three  Phisitians  about  her  bed  tempering  potions.  Theri- 
damas,  Techelles,  Vsumcasane,  and  the  three  sonnes." 

David  and  Bethsabe,  I,  1.  "He  [the  Prologue]  drawes  a 
curtaine  and  discovers  Bethsabe,  with  her  Maid,  bathing 
over  a  spring." 

''Dido,  I,  1.  "Here  the  curtains  draw: — there  is  discovered 
Jupiter  dandling  Ganymede  upon  his  knee,  and  Mercury  lying 
asleep." 

4  Downfall  of  Robert  Earl  of  Huntington,  III,  2.  "Curtain 
opens:  Robin  Hood  sleeps  on  a  green  bank,  and  Marian 
strewing   flowers  on   him  " 

Grim  the  Collier  of  Croydon,  I,  1.  "The  curtains  drawn  on 
a  sudden;  Pluto,  Minos,  Aeacus,  Rhadamanthus  set  in  counsel; 
before  them  Malbecco's  ghost  guarded  with  furies." 

J  Love's  Sacrifice,  V,  1.  "Enter  above  Fiormodo.  A  cur- 
taine drawne,  below  are  discovered  Biancha,  in  her  night 
attire,  leaning  on  a  cushion  at  a  Table,  holding  Fernando  by 
the  hand." 

Friar  Bacon  mid  Friar  Bungay,  IV,  1.  "Enter  Friar 
Bacon  drawing  the  courtaines,  with  a  white  sticke,  a  booke 
in  his  hand,  and  a  lampe  lighted  by  him,  and  the  brasen  head 
and  Miles,  with  weapons  by  him." 

Insatiate  Countess,  I,  1.  "The  Countesse  of  Swevia  dis- 
covered sitting  at  a  table  covered  with  blacke,  on  which 
stands  two  black  tapers  lighted,  she  in  mourning." 

Wisdom  of  Doctor  Dodypoll,  I,  1.  "A  Curtaine  drawne, 
Earle  Lassingbergh  is  discovered  (like  a  Painter)  painting 
Lucillia,  who  sits  working  on  a  piece  of  Cushion  worke." 

The  Guardian,  III,  8.  "  Enter  Jolante  (with  a  rich  Banquet 
and  Tapers)  in  a  Chair  behind  a  Curtain." 

Martyred  Soldier,  III,  2.  "  Eugenius  discovered  sitting 
loaden  with  many  Irons,  a  Lampe  burning  by  him;  then 
enter  Clowne  with  a  piece  of  browne  bread  and  a  Carret 
roote." 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  53 

Satiro-mastix,  I,  a.  "Horrace  sitting  in  a  study  behinde  a 
Curtaine,  a  candle  by  him  burning,  bookes  lying  confusedly; 
to  himselfe." 

Whore  of  Babylon,  Prologue.  "He  [the  Prologue]  drawes 
a  Curtaine,  discovering  Truth  in  sad  abiliments;  uncrownd: 
her  haire  disheveld,  &  sleeping  on  a  Rock:  Time  (her  father) 
attired  likewise  in  black,  and  al  his  properties  (as  Sithe, 
Howre-glasse  and  Wings)  of  the  same  Cullor,  using  all  means 
to  waken  Truth,  but  not  being  able  to  doe  it,  he  sits  by  her 
and  mourns." 

A  Wife  for  a  Month,  III,  i.  "Enter  divers  Monks,  Al- 
phonso  going  to  the  Tomb,  Rugio  and  Frier  Marco,  discover 
the  Tomb  and  a  Chair." 

S Platonic  Lovers,  II,  i.  "Draws  a  Canopy;  Eurithea  is 
found  sleeping  on  a  Couch,  a  Veil  on,  with  her  Lute." 

I  Iron  Age,  IV,  i.  "Achilles  discovered  in  his  Tent,  about 
him  his  bleeding  Mermidons,  himselfe  wounded,  and  with 
him  Vlisses." 

Brazen  Age,  II,  2.  "Two  fiery  Buls  are  discovered,  the 
Fleece  hanging  over  them,  and  the  Dragon  sleeping  beneath 
them." 

What  You  Will,  II,  1.  "Enter  a  Schole-maister,  draws 
the  curtains  behind,  with  Battus,  Nows,  Slip,  Nathaniell,  and 
Holif ernes  Pippo,  schole-boyes,  sitting,  with  bookes  in  their 
hands." 

S Merry  Beggars,  I,  1.  "He  opens  the  scene;  the  Beggars 
are  discovered  in  their  postures;  then  they  issue  forth;  and 
last,  the  Patricio." 

Merry  Beggars,  II,  1.  "Randal  opens  the  Scene.  The 
Beggars  discovered  at  their  Feast.  After  they  have  scrambled 
a  while  at  their  Victuals:  This  song." 

These  and  many  other  illustrations  that  could  be  collected 
make  a  fair-sized  curtained  space,  somewhere  on  the  stage, 
imperative.  Would  an  enclosure  25  feet  by  10  be  sufficient  for 
all  these  discovered  scenes?  We  must  answer,  yes.  Then 
why  may  not  this  space,  which  we  will  hereafter  call  the  inner 
stage,  be  located  at  the  rear  of  the  outer  stage  behind  the 


54  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

curtain,  as  shown  in  the  Messallina  picture?     This  question 
must  be  answered  in  connection  with  the  next  section. l 

II.       AN     OUTER     STAGE     APPROACHED     BY      TWO     PROSCENIUM 

DOORS,  AND  AN  INNER  STAGE  AT  THE  REAR  SEPARATED 

FROM  THE  OUTER  BY  A  CURTAIN 

This  can  best  be  shown  by  cases  where  characters  enter 
the  outer  stage,  and,  while  there,  the  curtains  are  drawn, 
revealing  to  them  some  object  or  persons  on  the  inner  stage. 

Looking  Glass  for  London  and  England,  II,  i.  They  have 
just  closed  the  curtains  to  the  Queen's  chamber,  according  to 
her  orders,  when  the  King  enters  with  the  Magi.  They  per- 
form tricks  before  him,  and  he  passes  off  and  on  the  stage ;  but 
finally  he  approaches  the  chamber  of  fair  Remelia  with  the 
words,  "Now  ope,  ye  foldes."  "He  drawes  the  Curtaines 
and  finds  her  stroken  with  Thunder,  blacke."  In  this  scene 
the  outer  stage  with  its  entrance  is  used  quite  independently 
of  the  inner:  the  King,  though  he  has  passed  off  and  on  the 
stage  during  the  exhibition,  knows  nothing  of  the  fate  of  the 
Queen  until  the  curtains  are  drawn. 

First  Part  of  the  Contention,  Scene  2.  Duke  Humphrey 
has  been  smothered  in  bed.  Later  the  King  enters  and  hears 
of  his  death.  Warwick  says:  "Enter  his  privie  chamber  my 
lord  and  view  the  bodie.  Good  father  staie  you  with  the 
rude  multitude,  till  I  returne."  "Exet  Salisbury.  Warwick 
drawes  the  curtaines  and  showes  Duke  Humphrey  in  his  bed." 

1  The  metaphorical  use  of  the  terms  the  "  curtain's  drawing, " 
"open  the  scene,"  etc.,  should  be  noticed:  it  strongly  suggests  that 
the  people  were  familiar  with  the  practice  of  drawing  a  curtain  on  the 
stage. 

Sejanus,  III,  1.  Tiberius  has  just  obtained  full  sway  over  the 
senate  and  commands  them  to  proceed  to  their  affairs.  Aruntius, 
knowing  well  that  some  trick  is  now  at  hand,  remarks  aside:  "Now, 
Silius,  guard  thee;  The  curtain's  drawing.     Afer  advanceth. " 

Monsieur  Thomas,  III,  1.  A  crowd  of  friends  have  come  to  rally 
Frank  who  is  sick  in  bed,  and  have  brought  along  some  "old  reverend 
Sack."  As  Thomas  is  about  to  take  out  the  bottles,  he  says,  "Sit 
thee  down,  Frank,  and  see  what  I  have  brought  thee-  come  discover, 
open  the  Scene,  and  let  the  work  appear. " 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  55 

The  outer  stage  is  here  entered  and  used  independently  of 
the  inner,  and  some  of  the  characters  on  the  outer  stage  are 
entirely  ignorant  of  what  is  on  the  inner  until  the  curtains 
are  drawn. 

Downfall  of  Robert  Earl  of  Huntington,  III,  2.  "Enter 
Fitzwater."  After  a  soliloquy,  the  "  Curtains  open :  Robin  Hood 
sleeps  on  a  green  bank,  and  Marian  strewing  flowers  on  him." 
Again  the  outer  stage  is  entered  and  used  independently, 
and  later,  the  curtains  drawn,  the  inner  stage  is  discovered. 

Edward  I,  Scene  10.  "  King  Edward,  Edmund  and  Gloces- 
ter  goes  into  the  Queen's  chamber ;  the  Queen's  tent  opens ;  she 
is  discovered  in  her  bed,  attended  by  Mary  Duchess  of  Lan- 
caster, Joan  of  Aeon  her  daughter;  and  the  Queen  dandles 
his  young  son."  After  a  scene,  "They  close  the  tent,"  and 
the  King  and  lords  welcome  the  Welch  barons.  The  "mantle 
of  frieze"  is  accepted,  the  barons  exeunt,  and  Edward  hastens 
to  present  the  gift  to  the  young  Prince, — "The  Queen's  tent 
opens;  the  King,  his  brother,  the  Earl  of  Glocester,  enter." 
The  outer  stage  is  entered  and  used  independently  of  the 
inner,  and  the  actors  on  the  two  stages  are  unknown  to  each 
other  until  the  curtains  are  drawn. 

Whore  of  Babylon,  Prologue.  After  the  Prologue  has 
spoken,  "He  drawes  a  Curtaine,  discovering  Truth  in  sad 
abiliments;  uncrowned;  her  haire  disheveld,  &  sleeping  on  a 
Rock:  Time  (her  Father)  attired  likewise  in  black,  and  al  his 
properties  (as  Sithe,  Howre-glasse  and  Wings)  of  the  same 
Cullor."  Soon  a  funeral  procession  passes  by  and  Truth 
awakens.  There  is  no  direct  statement  that  the  procession 
marched  across  the  outer  stage,  entering  one  proscenium 
door  and  passing  out  the  other,  but  all  is  natural  and  easy  this 
way,  and  it  is  hard  to  conceive  how  else  the  scene  could  be 
played  effectively. 

If  this  be  not  a  good  Play,  the  Devil  is  in  it,  V.  "The  play 
ending,  as  they  goe  off,  from  under  the  ground  in  severall 
places,  rise  up  spirits,  to  them  enter,  leaping  in  great  joy, 
Rufman,  Shackle-soule,  and  Lurchall,  discovering  behind  a 
curten,  Ravillac,  Guy  Faulx,  Bartervile,  a  Prodigall,  standing 
in  their  torments."     Later  in  the  scene  "  Curtaines  are  drawne 


56  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

over  them,"  and  the  action  continues  on  the  outer  stage. 
Here  again  the  outer  stage  is  entered  and  used  independently 
of  the  inner,  and  in  course  of  the  action  the  curtains  are 
opened  and  closed. 

77  Edward  IV.  "Enter  at  the  one  doore,  Dighton,  with 
Edward  under  his  arm,  at  the  other  doore,  Forrest  with 
Richard."  After  a  few  remarks  "They  lay  them  down,"  and 
exeunt,  saying,  "The  priest  here  in  the  Tower  will  bury  them. 
Let  us  away."  Here  both  proscenium  doors  are  used,  and, 
while  no  mention  is  made  of  the  curtain,  it  must  have  been 
closed  when  the  murderers  left,  as  there  is  no  other  way  pro- 
vided for  the  mimic  dead  to  escape. 

King  of  Lombardy,  V,  i.  "A  canopy  is  drawn,  the  king 
is  discover'd  sleeping  over  Papers;  Enter  Paradine,  with  his 
Sword  drawn."  He  kills  the  King,  and,  hearing  a  knock  at 
the  door,  "  puts  him  behind  the  Arras,  opens  the  door.  Enter 
Rhodolinda."  After  she  is  similarly  disposed  of,  "  Enter  Her- 
megild,  Thesina."  In  the  course  of  the  action,  "He  draws 
the  Arras,  and  discovers  Albovine,  Rhodolinda,  Valdaura, 
dead  in  Chairs."  The  outer  stage  is  entered  and  used  inde- 
pendently of  the  inner,  and  the  curtains  opened  and  closed 
at  the  pleasure  of  Paradine. 

Henry  VIII,  II,  2.  "Enter  Lord  Chamberlaine,  reading 
his  Letter."  Soon  "Enter  to  the  Lord  Chamberlaine,  the 
Dukes  of  Norfolke  and  Suffolke."  After  a  brief  discussion  of 
Wolsey's  influence  on  the  King,  "  Exit  Lord  Chamberlaine, 
and  the  King  drawes  the  Curtaine  and  sits  reading  pensively." 
The  outer  stage  is  entered  and  used  independently  of  the  inner 
until  the  curtains  are  drawn  and  the  King  discovered. 

Distresses,  IV,  1.  "Enter  Leonte,  and  second  Servant." 
After  a  few  instructions,  he  dismisses  him,  and  "steps  to  the 
Arras  softly,  draws  it.  Claramante  is  discovered  sleeping  on 
her  Book,  her  Glass  by."  Here  the  entrance  of  Leonte  and  his 
servant  is  plainly  through  one  of  the  proscenium  doors  to  the 
outer  stage,  from  which  place  he  draws  the  arras  and  discovers 
the  inner  scene. 

White  Devil,  V,  4.  "Enter  Flam  and  Gasp  at  one  dore, 
another  way,  Giovanni,  attended."     After  several  incidents 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  57 

have  taken  place,  Florence  enters  to  tell  Flamineo  that  his 
mother  has  grown  wild  with  grief  over  her  dead  boy.  Flami- 
neo says:  "I  will  see  them.  They  are  behind  the  travers. 
lie  discover  their  superstitious  howling."  "Cornelia,  the 
Moore  and  3.  other  Ladies  discovered,  winding  Marcello's 
coarse.  A  song."  There  can  be  no  doubt  here  that  both 
proscenium  doors  were  used  as  entrance  to  the  outer  stage, 
and  not  till  well  along  in  the  action  did  the  curtains  draw 
revealing  the  inner  stage. 

Shop  scenes  may  be  mentioned  here  because  they  are  so 
well  adapted  to  the  outer-inner  stage.  The  shop  or  shops 
were  likely  ranged  along  just  at  the  edge  of  the  inner  stage, 
so  that  they  could  be  discovered  and  closed  by  the  curtain, 
while  the  outer  stage  with  the  doors  thrown  open  became  the 
street  before  the  place  of  business. 

/  Edward  IV.  "  Enter  two  prentices,  preparing  the  Gold- 
smith's Shop  with  plate."  When  Mrs.  Shore  enters,  "The 
boy  departs,  and  she  sits  sewing  in  her  shop.  Enter  the  King 
disguised.*'  Edward's  words,  as  he  enters,  show  that  he  is 
walking  along  the  street,  looking  for  this  special  shop.  At 
the  close  of  the  scene  she  says  to  Shore,  "I  prithee,  come, 
sweet  love,  and  sit  by  me.  No  King  thats  under  heaven  He 
love  like  thee."  The  curtain,  therefore,  closed  on  the  shop 
scene,  and  the  passage  across  the  outer  stage,  through  the 

/roscenium  doors,  served  as  the  street. 
The  Renegado,   I,  3.      "A  shop  discovered,   Gazet  in  it. 
Francisco  and  Vitelli  walking  by."     During  the  scene  others 
enter  and  pass  across  the  stage. 

II  Honest  Whore,  III,  3.  "Enter  at  one  doore  Lodovico 
and  Carolo;  at  another  Bots,  and  Mistris  Horsleach;  Candido 
and  his  wife  appeare  in  the  Shop." 

In  these  cases  it  is  plain  that  the  shop  is  behind  the  curtain, 
and,  in  this  last  quotation,  it  is  quite  evident  that  the  outer 
stage,  with  the  proscenium  doors  thrown  open,  is  used  as  a 
street.  In  Bartholomew  Fair  there  are  at  least  two  shops  on 
the  inner  stage  at  one  time, — Lanthorn's  stall  of  hobby  horses 
and  Ursula's  booth  where  the  "  best  pig  "  is  roasted.  Knockem 
says  to  Quarlous  in  II,  1 ,     "This  is  old  Ursula's  mansion ;  how 


58  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

like  you  her  bower?"  While  the  two  shops  are  set,  people 
pass  back  and  forth  across  the  stage  as  if  in  a  public  street. 
All  the  illustrations  that  have  been  given  so  far  bear  di- 
rectly on  these  four  parts, — the  curtain,  outer  stage,  inner 
stage,  and  proscenium  doors.  Now  if  we  remember  the 
curtain  and  inner  and  outer  stages  in  the  Messallina  picture, 
the  curtain,  inner  and  outer  stages,  and  proscenium  doors 
in  the  Duke's  theater,  and  add  to  this  the  demands  of  the 
plays,  as  shown  by  the  illustrations  just  given,  I  think  we 
must  conclude  that  a  typical  Elizabethan  stage  had  a  rear 
inner  stage,  a  front  outer  stage,  a  curtain  separating  the  two, 
and  two  proscenium  doors. 

III.       SECONDARY    CURTAINS 

It  is  clear  that  in  all  the  cases  quoted  in  the  preceding  section 
the  main  curtain,  hanging  under  the  outer  edge  of  the  gallery, 
is  used.  (Throughout  this  study  this  is  always  the  curtain 
referred  to  when  the  word  is  used  without  qualifications.) 
There  are  still  two  other  curtains  occasionally  found  on  the 
lower  stage, — a  second  curtain  or  traverse  and  a  bed  curtain. 
These  have  not  been  separated  from  the  permanent  curtains 
by  previous  writers,  and,  as  a  result,  the  whole  question  of 
the  hangings  has  been  one  of  indefiniteness  and  general  mis- 
understanding. A  careful  examination  of  the  scene  in  con- 
nection with  the  whole  play  will  always  reveal  the  particular 
one  used. 

A.     Second  curtain  or  traverse 

In  certain  scenes,  a  hanging  was  drawn  across  some  part 
of  the  inner  stage  for  the  purpose  of  concealing  some  person 
or  small  object  from  the  characters  already  using  most  of  the 
inner  stage  and  the  outer.  The  Restoration  inner  stage  was 
larger  than  the  Elizabethan,  but  a  situation  in  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  V,  3,  well  illustrates  the  use  of  this  second  curtain. 
After  men  have  been  talking  on  the  outer  stage  for  some  fifty 
lines,  "The  Scene  draws,  behind  it  a  Traverse. "      "The  Duke 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  59 

of  Guise  is  assaulted  by  Eight."  At  the  end  of  this  scene, 
Guise  "flings  himself  upon  him  [the  assassin].  Dies."  Just 
then  "The  Traverse  is  drawn.  The  king  rises  from  his  Chair, 
comes  forward,  etc. " 

%/  Merchant  of  Venice,  II,  7.  "Enter  Portia  with  Morocco 
and  both  their  traines. "  The  scene  is  a  room  in  Portia's 
house,  where  the  choice  of  caskets  is  to  be  made.  Portia 
says  to  her  maid,  "Goe,  draw  aside  the  curtaines,  and  dis- 
cover the  severall  Caskets  to  this  noble  Prince:  Now  make 
your  choyse. "  Here  is  simply  a  small  part  of  the  inner  stage 
curtained  off  to  conceal  the  caskets  until  the  proper  moment 
to  discover  them. 

Valentinian,  II,  4.  Everything  in  the  great  hall  has  been 
especially  prepared  to  dazzle  and  charm  Lucina.  She  enters 
amid  song  and  music,  and  by  and  by,  according  to  prear- 
rangement,  "Jewels  shew'd. "  Lucina  at  once  says,  "Nay, 
ye  may  draw  the  Curtain,  I  have  seen  'em,  but  none  worth 
half  my  honesty."  Here  again  there  is  a  small  space  cur- 
tained off  on  the  inner  stage  to  reveal  the  jewels  at  a  certain 
moment,  so  as  to  create  the  desired  effect  on  Lucina. 

Volpone,  V,  1.  "Volp.  Go,  straight  give  out  about  the 
streets,  you  two,  that  I  am  dead.  Exeunt  Cast,  and  Nano. 
Mos.  What  do  you  mean,  sir?  Volp.  O,  I  shall  have 
instantly  my  Vulture,  Crow,  Raven,  come  flying  hither,  on  the 
news,  to  peck  for  carion,  my  she-wolf,  and  all,  greedy,  and  full 
of  expectation.  .  .  .  Get  thee  a  cap,  a  count-book,  pen  and 
ink,  papers  afore  thee;  sit  as  thou  wert  taking  an  inventory 
of  parcels:  I'll  get  up  behind  the  curtain,  on  a  stool,  and 
hearken;  sometime  peep  over,  see  how  they  do  look,  with 
what  degrees  their  blood  doth  leave  their  faces.  O,  't  will 
afford  me  a  rare  meal  of  laughter!"  They  are  all  the  while 
in  a  room  using  a  table,  chairs,  etc.,  so  that  the  curtain  is 
drawn ;  but  some  corner  or  part  of  the  inner  stage  is  enclosed, 
so  that  the  old  Fox  may  be  hid  from  the  greedy  flatterers, 
and  yet  be  visible  to  the  audience. 

Duchess  of  Malfy,  IV,  1.  The  scene  is  a  room  in  the 
Duchess's  palace.  After  the  action  has  continued  for  some 
time,   "Here  is  discover'd,  behind  a  travers,  the  artificiall 


60  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

figures  of  Antonio  and  his  children,  appearing  as  if  they  were 
dead. "  A  small  space  on  the  inner  stage  closed  by  a  traverse 
is  all  that  is  here  implied. 

Old  Fortunatus,  II,  i.  The  Soldan  is  royally  entertaining 
Old  Fortunatus  at  his  court.  After  he  has  shown  the  stranger 
many  different  things  and  come  to  admire  him  very  much,  he 
decides  to  display  his  greatest  treasure:  he  "draw[s]  a  cur- 
taine,"  and  reveals  a  golden  box  which  contains  the  magic  hat. 

In  all  these  cases  there  can  be  no  uncertainty  about  the 
curtain  referred  to:  i.  they  are  already  using  part  of  the 
inner  stage  with  the  curtains  drawn,  as  is  shown  by  the  dis- 
tinct location  of  the  scene  and  the  use  of  properties  l;  2. 
the  space  does  not  need  to  be  large  to  contain  these  objects, 
and,  more  than  this,  in  most  cases  it  must  be  small  in  order 
to  make  the  scene  effective. 

B.     Bed  curtains 

Trick  to  Catch  the  Old-One,  IV,  5.  "Dampit  in  bed; 
Audrey  spinning  by."  After  the  scene  opens  Audrey  sings 
a  song  appropriate  to  the  occasion ;  at  the  end  of  which,  Dampit 
calls  out,  "Trahe,  trahito,  draw  the  curtain;  give  me  a  sip 
of  sack  more."  Here  the  curtains,  which  plainly  belong 
to  the  bed,  remain  closed  till  after  the  song,  when  Dampit 
awakens,  and  calls  for  sack,  thus  making  an  effective  opening 
for  the  scene. 
/  What  You  Will,  II,  1.  "Laverdure  drawes  the  curtaines; 
sitting  on  his  bed,  apparalling  himself;  his  trunke  of  apparaile 
standing  by  him." 

Witch,  IV,  2.  "He's  asleep,  lady,  the  curtains  drawn 
about  him." 

The  Rape  of  Lucrece,  IV,  3.  Sextus  enters  Lucrece's  room 
"with  his  sword  drawn  and  a  taper  light."  In  the  midst 
of  his  soliloquy,  he  says: 

"  Heere,  heere,  behold!  beneath  these  curtains  lies 

Lu.     discovered  in  her  bed. 
That  bright  enchantresse  that  hath  daz'd  my  eyes.  " 

«  For  full  information  of  this  point  see  Chapters  V-VI. 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  61 

I  Honest  Whore,  I,  3.      The  time   has  come  for  Infelice   , 
to  awake  from  her  unnatural  sleep.     The  Duke,  Doctor,  and 
two  servants  enter  her  room;  the  Duke  gives  orders  to  "lock 
the  doores, "  and  then  to  "uncurtaine  her."     His  commands 
are  obeyed,  and  Infelice  is  discovered  lying  on  her  bed. 

II  Iron  Age,  IV,  1.  "Loud  musicke.  Enter  Egistus  with 
his  sword  drawne,  hideth  himselfe  in  the  chamber,  behind  the 
Bed-curtaines. " 

Sophonisba,  I,  2.  "The  Ladies  lay  the  Princesse  in  a  faire 
bed,  and  close  the  curtaines,  whil'st  Massinissa  enters." 
After  a  few  lines  spoken  by  the  women,  "  Enter  foure  Boyes, 
antiquely  attired,  with  bows  and  quivers,  dauncing  to  the 
cornets,  a  phantastique  measure;  Massinissa,  in  his  night- 
gowne,  led  by  Asdruball  and  Hanno,  followed  by  Bytheas 
and  Jugurth.  The  Boyes  draw  the  curtaines,  discovering 
Sophonisba,  to  whom  Massinissa  speakes. " 

//  Antonio  and  Mellida  III,  4.  "Maria.  Good-night, 
Nutriche.  Pages,  leave  the  roome.  .  .  Exeunt  Pages  and 
Nutriche.  O  thou  cold  widdowe  bed.  .  .  Maria  draweth 
the  courtaine:  and  the  ghost  of  Audrugio  is  displayed,  sitting 
on  the  bed." 

This,  as  well  as  the  other  illustrations,  shows  without  ex- 
planation the  use  of  the  bed  curtains  as  distinct  from  the 
others.  There  was  also,  occasionally,  a  curtain  temporarily 
hung  on  the  outer  stage,  as  in  the  Spanish  Tragedy.  This 
was  a  mere  makeshift  for  a  play  within  a  play — the  prepara- 
tion of  the  stage  being  part  of  the  scene — and  in  no  sense  one 
of  the  regular  hangings.  The  confusion  of  the  different 
curtains  is  due,  partially,  I  think,  to  the  dramatist's  loose 
use  of  the  terms  "curtain,"  "curtaines,"  "arras,"  "traverse," 
etc.  The  word  which  suited  the  meter,  or  the  sound  of  the 
lines,  or  the  situation,  or  gave  variety,  or  indeed  the  one 
which  suggested  itself  first  to  the  writer's  mind,  seems  to  have 
been  used.  In  the  Looking  Glass  for  London,  II,  1,  the  King 
says,  "Now  ope,  ye  foldes."  "He  drawes  the  Curtaines 
and  finds  her  stroken  with  Thunder,  blacke."  In  the  fol- 
lowing illustrations,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  one  and 
the  same  curtain  is  meant,  and  yet  various  words  are  used. 


62  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

Whore  of  Babylon,  Prologue.  "He  drawes  a  Curtaine  dis- 
covering Truth  in  sad  abiliments;  uncrowned;  her  haire 
disheveld,  &  sleeping  on  a  Rock.  Time  (her  Father)  attired 
likewise  in  black,  and  al  his  properties  (as  Sithe,  Howre-glass 
and  Wings)  of  the  same  Cullor. " 

Dido,  I,  i.  "Here  the  curtains  draw: — there  is  discovered 
Jupiter  dandling  Ganymede  upon  his  knee,  and  Mercury 
lying  asleep." 

Distresses,  IV,  i.  "He  steps  to  the  arras  softly,  draws  it. 
Claramante  is  discovered  sleeping  on  her  Book,  her  Glass  by." 

King  of  Lombardy,  V,  i.  "A  canopy  is  drawn,  the  king 
is  discover'd  sleeping  over  Papers." 

The  White  Devil,  V,  4.  Flamineo  says:  "I  will  see  them, 
they  are  behind  the  travers.  He  discover  their  superstitious 
howling."  "Cornelia,  the  Moore,  and  3.  other  Ladies  dis- 
covered, winding  Marcello's  coarse." 

IV.       SIDE  ENTRANCES  TO  THE  INNER  STAGE 

We  have  shown  that  the  outer  stage  contained  two  pro- 
scenium doors,  but  no  mention  has  been  made  of  the  en- 
trances to  the  inner  stage.  That  there  were  sdme  kind  of 
side  passages  to  it  cannot  be  doubted.  1.  Properties  are 
moved  on  and  off  the  inner  stage.  2.  Characters  are  dis- 
covered on  the  inner  stage,  and  left  behind  the  curtain  when 
the  scene  closes.  3.  Characters  playing  on  the  outer  stage 
with  the  curtain  closed  often  cross  behind  the  scenes  from  one 
proscenium  door  to  another.1 

Any  amount  of  illustrations  can  not  prove,  but  only  suggest, 
the  arrangement  of  the  side  passages  to  the  inner  stage. 
Considering  the  needs  of  the  plays  and  the  principles  of 
acting,  it  is  possible  that  they  took  the  form  of  plain  "wing 
entrances."  Two  or  three  "  wings  "  to  the  side,  so  arranged  as 
to  be  able  to  be  put  in  or  taken  out  at  pleasure,  would  make 
a  very  practical  and  simple  form  of  entrance.  Such  an  ar- 
rangement solves  the  difficulty  in  certain  perplexing  situa- 

1  Cf.  Caesar  and  Pompey,  IV,  1  :  and  Fair  Maid  of  the  Exchange,  I. 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  63 

tions  in  the  plays1;  it  lends  itself  to  scenes  of  overhearing 
and  stealing  in  and  out,  as  it  allows  a  passage  without  the 
noise  of  creaking  doors,  and  throws  the  stage  open  to  uncer- 
tainty and  expectation  2  ;  it  gives  an  opportunity  for  mechan- 
ical devices  3 ;  it  provides  an  opening  through  which  characters 
may  look  off  the  stage  and  describe  some  object  at  a  dis- 
tance4; it  allows  a  straight  and  mysterious  passage  across 
the  stage.5 

V.       GALLERY 

A.     A  fair-sized  gallery  closed  by  a  curtain 

In  the  Messallina  picture  there  is  a  gallery  over  the  inner 
stage,  extending  from  the  curtain  hangings  to  the  rear  wall, 
a  space  20  to  25  feet  wide  and  10  to  12  feet  deep.  The  early 
plays  abound  in  the  use  of  this  structure  as  the  walls  of  a 
city,  a  fort,  or  a  prison.  There  is  scarcely  an  extant  chronicle 
play  which  does  not  have  a  parley  from  this  elevation,  or  men 
stationed  here  defending  the  supposed  enclosure.  The  pres- 
ence of  the  stage  gallery,  and  its  utility  in  war  plays  are  so 
generally  conceded,  that  proof  of  the  same  seems  unnecessary. 

It  was  sometimes  used  in  a  play  within  a  play  for  seating 
the  stage  audience. 

/Spanish  Tragedy,  IV,  3.  The  King  and  his  train  pass 
"into  the  gallerie,"  from  which  they  witness  the  play  pre- 
pared by  Hieronimo. 

Women  Beware  Women,  V,  1.  "Enter  above,  Duke, 
Bianca,  Lord  Cardinal,  Fabrico,  other  Cardinals  and  Lords 
and  Ladies  in  state."     Before  the  play  of  real  life  and  death 

1  Cf.  The  Wise  Woman  of  Hogsdon,  V,  2. 

2  Cf.  Loyal  Subject,  III,  3;  and  Humorous  Lieutenant,  IV,  1. 
» Cf.  If  this  be  not  a  good  Play,  the  Devil  is  in  it,  Scene  4. 

« Cf.  Eastward  Ho,  IV,  r. 

*Cf.  Macbeth,  IV,   1. 

Perhaps  just  here  a  note  should  be  made  on  the  occasional  reference 
to  a  third  door  to  the  lower  stage.  This  door  is  so  seldom  specifically 
mentioned  that  it  cannot  have  been  a  permanent  fixture.  When  the 
word  is  used  I  take  it  to  mean  simply  a  third  place  of  entrance,  any- 
where through  the  inner  stage,  without  any  reference  to  a  regular  door. 


^" 


64  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

opens  on  the  outer  stage,  Hymen,  Ganymede  and  Hebe  enter 
the  gallery,  "dance  a  short  dance,"  and  then  offer  their  cups 
to  the  Duke.  This  illustration,  besides  showing  a  special 
use  of  the  gallery,  also  gives  some  idea  of  its  size. 

It  was  occasionally  used  as  a  prison,  or  a  place  of  tem- 
porary confinement. 

Great  Duke  of  Florence,  V,  i.  "Sanazarro  above."  After 
a  bitter  reflection  on  his  past  life  and  imprisonment,  the 
sound  of  approaching  horses  is  heard.  He  rushes  to  a 
window,  saying,  "This  Back-part  of  my  Prison  allows  me 
Liberty  to  see  and  know  them. " 

The  Picture,  IV,  2.  A  plan  has  been  formed  to  punish 
Ubaldo  and  Ricardo.  They  have  each  gone  off  with  a  girl, 
and  Sophia  is  left  alone  on  the  lower  stage.  Suddenly,  "A 
Noise  of  clapping  a  Door:  Ubaldo  above  in  his  Shirt." 
"  Ubald.  What  dost  thou  mean,  Wench?  Why  dost  thou  shut 
the  Door  upon  me?  ....  'Slight,  'tis  a  Prison,  or  a  Pig-stye." 
In  the  midst  of  his  raving,  the  other  man  unwillingly  joins 
him, — "  Ricardo,  entering  with  a  great  noise  above,  as  fallen." 
Corsica  and  Hilario  "enter  below"  and  laugh  at  them,  while 
Sophia  reads  them  a  lecture.  In  the  end  she  assigns  them 
a  definite  work  and  the  three  pass  out  leaving  the  captives 
to  their  fate.  "  Ubald.  I  am  faint,  and  must  lie  down.  Ric, 
I  am  hungry,  too,  and  cold.  O  cursed  women!  Ubald.  .  .  . 
But  let  us  rest  as  well  as  we  can  to-night,  but  not  o'er- 
sleep  ourselves,  lest  we  fast  to-morrow."  Besides  showing 
this  particular  use  of  the  gallery,  this  illustration  suggests 
the  need  of  a  gallery  curtain — the  men  are  left  in  confine- 
ment and  not  relieved  till  in  the  next  act. 

It  served  as  a  higher  point  of  observation,  or  the  upper 
deck  of  a  ship. 

7  Fair  Maid  of  the  West,  IV,  4.  "Enter  Sailer  above." 
He  calls  to  those  below,  "Arme  Gentlemen,  a  gallant  ship 
of  warre  makes  with  her  full  sailes  this  way." 

Dick  of  Devonshire,  I,  3.  According  to  orders  to  "get 
up  to  the  highest  Terret, "  "Enter  Buzzano  above."  Here 
he  looks  out  to  sea  and  describes  an  approaching  ship. 

It  occasionally  became  a  bedroom 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  65 

Alphonsus,  King  of  Germany,  I,  i.  Alphonsus  "opens  the 
door  and  finds  Lorenzo  sleep  a  loft. ' '  When  he  enters, "  Lorenzo 
Riseth,  and  snatches  his  sword  which  hung  by  his  Bed-side." 
In  the  end,  the  Emperor  kills  him  and  "exit,"  but  no  pro- 
vision is  made  for  removing  the  dead  body  or  the  bed  and 
other  properties.  From  this  it  seems  that  the  scene  must 
have  been  discovered  and  closed  by  a  curtain. 

Massacre  at  Paris,  I,  5.  "The  Admiral  discovered  in  his 
bed."  In  scene  7,  Gonzago  enters  and  kills  him,  and  the 
Guise,  apparently  on  the  lower  stage,  says,  "Throw  him 
down. "  If  these  two  scenes  may  be  taken  together,  they  show 
that  the  bedroom  was  in  the  gallery  and  closed  by  a  curtain. 

Another  illustration  of  the  gallery  curtain  is  found  in  the 
Unnatural  Combat,  V,  2.  Malefort  exclaims,  as  he  enters, 
"Ha!  this  is  the  Fort.  Open  the  Gate.  Within  there." 
In  reply  he  is  met  by  "Soldiers  with  muskets,"  who  refuse 
him  entrance.  By  and  by  they  "thrust  forth  Theocrine; 
her  Garments  loose,  her  Hair  dishevell'd"  to  her  longing 
father,  but  only  to  die  in  his  arms.  "  Montrevile  above,  the 
Curtain  suddenly  drawn,"  laughs  out,  "Ha,  ha,  ha!"  and 
continues  to  jeer  until  "Soldiers  enter  above"  and  call  him 
away.  The  fact  that  this  is  a  fort,  and  that  soldiers  enter 
to  him,  makes  it  pretty  certain  that  Montrevile  is  in  the 
gallery;  therefore,  gallery  curtains. 

B.     Gallery  doors 

The  stage  directions  in  the  plays  demand  at  least  two 
entrances  to  the  gallery:  the  fact  that  there  were  only  two 
possible  sides  for  regular  passageways  makes  it  practically 
necessary  to  have  a  door  on  either  side  of  the  gallery. 
*  Rape  of  Lucrece,  V,  3.  "Enter  in  severall  places,  Sextus 
and  Valerius  above." 

Directions  to  the  characters  in  the  plays  indicate  this 
arrangement. 

Cruel   Brother,   V,    1.      Castruchio   discloses   his   plan   to 
the  Duke:  "Be  you  within  your  Bed,  to  free  you  from  the 
world's  suspicion:  whilst  I  do  place  behind  the  Gallery  door 
s 


66  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

(which  leads  into  your  Closet  Chapel)  such  bold  Fellows,  as 
shall  dare  to  thrust  their  weapons  home." 

C.     Gallery  window 

Messallina  shows  a  small  square  curtain  at  the  rear  of  the 
gallery  which  undoubtedly  closes  a  window.  There  are 
frequent  situations  in  the  plays  in  which  an  opening  to  the 
outside  is  needed,  and,  on  the  whole,  the  location  of  the 
window  in  the  Messallina  seems  to  be  very  plausible. 

Great  Duke  of  Florence,  V,  i.  "Sanazarro  above"  is 
pacing  his  prison  when  he  hears  the  patter  of  horses'  hoofs 
in  the  distance.  He  rushes  to  some  opening,  saying,  "  This 
Back-part  of  my  Prison  allows  me  Liberty  to  see  and  know 
them. "  Here  he  remarks  to  himself  the  different  ones  he 
sees  coming. 

^*  The  Picture,  IV,  2.  "Ubaldo  above"  examines  the 
prison  in  which  he  has  suddenly  found  himself:  "The  Win- 
dows grated  with  Iron,  I  cannot  force  'em,  and  if  I  leap  down 
here,  I  break  my  Neck. " 

I  If  You  Know  not  Me,  V.  "  Enter  Elizabeth,  Gage, 
and  Clarentia  above,"  Elizabeth  says,  "Good  Master  Gage, 
looke  to  the  pathway  that  doth  come  from  the  Court. "  He 
goes  to  some  window  and  there  describes  three  horsemen 
riding  towards  them  with  all  speed. 

I  have  already  given  two  cases  of  looking  off  to  sea  from 
this  location,  which  would  require  an  opening.  The  window 
closed  by  a  curtain  in  the  Messallina  serves  all  these  purposes 
very  well,  and  I  believe  was  a  regular  feature  in  a  typical 
Elizabethan  stage. 

VI.        BALCONY    WINDOWS 

The  situation  in  David  and  Bethsabe,  I,  1,  where  "He 
[the  Prologue]  draws  a  curtain  and  discovers  Bethsabe,  with 
her  maid,  bathing  over  a  spring;  she  sings,  and  David  sits 
above  viewing  her,"  was  always  a  mystery  to  me  until  I  saw 
the  cuts  of  the  Duke's  theater  with  its  balcony  windows  just 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  67 

over  the  proscenium  doors.  This  seemed  a  happy  suggestion 
for  the  Shaksperian  stage,  and  examining  the  plays  with  this 
in  mind,  I  have  been  fully  convinced  that  such  was  the  ar- 
rangement. These  windows  would  of  course  indicate  a  room 
behind  them,  with  a  floor  on  the  same  plane  with  the  gallery, 
but  in  practice  little  more  than  the  opening  itself  could  be 
used.  Each  gallery  door  regularly  becomes  an  entrance  to 
this  supposed  room  on  either  side  of  the  gallery. 

First  may  be  given  a  few  instances  where  one  character 
directs  the  actions  of  another  in  a  play. 

Family  of  Love,  I,  i.  Glister  says  to  Maria,  "I  will  se- 
quester you  from  all  rooms  in  my  house  save  this  gallery 
and  your  upper  chamber."  Scene  2.  Gerardine,  coming 
to  take  his  leave  of  her,  says  to  his  confidants,  "Peace:  let's 
draw  near  the  window  and  listen  if  we  may  hear  her. "  Maria 
soon  appears  and  among  other  remarks  says,  "I  prithee,  love, 
attempt  not  to  ascend  my  chamber- window  by  a  ladder' d 
rope:  th'  entrance  is  too  narrow."  Ill,  1.  Maria  and  her 
lover  are  talking,  presumably  in  the  gallery,  when  they  see 
Lipsalve  enter.  Gerardine  whispers:  "But  who  comes  here? 
— let's  remove  ourselves  to  the  window,  and  observe  this 
piece  of  man's  flesh. "  They  disappear,  and  presently,  "  Enter 
Gerardine  and  Maria  above."  These  directions  become  in- 
telligible, if  we  conceive  of  Maria  being  allowed  the  liberty 
of  the  gallery  and  her  private  chamber  at  the  side  with  its 
balcony  window. 

Cruel  Brother,  V,  1.  Castruchio  says  to  the  Duke:  "Be 
you  within  your  Bed,  to  free  you  from  the  world's  suspicion; 
whilst  I  do  place  behind  the  Gallery  door  (which  leads  into 
your  Closet  Chappel)  such  bold  Fellows,  as  shall  dare  to 
thrust  their  weapons  home." 

Loyal  Subject,  II,  3.  Under  pretense  of  visiting,  the  Duke 
has  come  to  search  the  house  of  his  Loyal  Subject.  He  says 
to  Archas,  "Lead  on,  we  '1  follow  ye:  begin  with  the  Gallery, 
I  think  that 's  one. "  Archas  answers,  "  'T  is  so,  and  't  please 
ye,  Sir,  the  rest  above  are  lodgings  all." 

Characters  frequently  speak  of  various  houses  built  on 
this  plan. 


68  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

Wit  without  Money,  III,  i.     "A  back  door  opens  to  a  long 
gallerie. " 
V^  Women  beware  Women,  III,  i.     "  Tis  a  sweet  recreation 
for  a  gentlewoman  to  stand  in  a  bay-window  and  see  gallants." 

Chaste  Maid,  V,  i.  "We're  simply  stock'd  with  cloth- 
of-tissue  cushions  to  furnish  out  bay-windows." 

The  many  courtship  scenes  from  windows  are  excellently 
adapted  to  this  arrangement.  The  word  "  window  "  is  almost 
always  used,  and  the  broad  open  gallery  would  be  a  poor 
representation  of  a  window  to  a  room. 

Monsieur  Thomas,  III,  3.  "No  light  in  any  window," 
says  Launcelot,  as  the  serenade  begins.  Presently,  Mary 
and  her  Maid  appear  "above,"  and  the  latter  sings: 

'  Come  up  to  my  window,  love,  come,  come,  come. 

Come  to  my  window,  my  dear, 
The  wind,  nor  the  rain  shall  trouble  thee  again, 
But  thou  shalt  be  lodged  here." 

A  rope  ladder  is  lowered,  and  Thomas  is  "climbing  to 
promotion,"  when  "Madge  with  a  Devil's  vizard  roaring, 
offers  to  kiss  him,  and  he  falls  down."  As  he  cries  out,  "O 
my  leg,  .  .  .  Oh,  a  Surgeon,  a  Surgeon,  or  I  dye,"  Mary  comes 
out  "below,"  but  finding  his  moans  only  a  trick  to  get  her 
out,  she  steps  back  and  locks  the  door  behind  her. 

The  Captain,  II,  2.  "Fabrico.  Whence  is  this  musique? 
Frederick.  From  my  Sister's  chamber."  "Enter  at  the 
Window,  Frank  and  Clora. "  They  "warble  their  woodnotes 
wild"  from  this  height,  but  fortunately  the  Captain  falls 
asleep  and  does  not  hear  the  slighting  remarks  which  they 
make  about  him  after  the  song.  Fabrico  says,  "  Let 's  awaken 
him,  and  away."  "If  he  hear  this,  not  all  the  power  of 
man  could  keep  him  from  the  windows  till  they  were  down 
and  all  the  doors  broke  open. "  Shortly  after  this  the  women 
exeunt,  saying,   "Shut  the  window." 

Chances,  IV,  3.  "Pet.  'Tis  so;  that  house,  Sir,  is  it: 
out  of  that  window  certainly  I  saw  my  old  Mistresses  face. 
Musick. — Enter  Bawd  above.  Pet.  Look  ye  there,  Sir,  do  ye 
know  that  head?     Fred.     I  should  know  that  face." 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  69 

Blurt  Master  Constable,  IV,  i.  Curvetto  finds,  as  he 
enters,  a  "cord  hanging  from  the  window. "  "Stay,  here's 
the  door,  the  window;  hah,  this,  this  !  Cord? — umph!— 
dear  cord."  As  he  pulls  the  cord,  down  comes  a  pail  of  foul 
water  on  his  head,  at  which  he  exclaims,  "This  sconce  shall 
batter  down  those  windows."  They  answer  above:  "Why 
do  you  beat  our  doors?  ....  This  was  a  water- work  to  drown 
a  rat  that  uses  to  creep  in  at  this  window." 

As  already  stated,  the  David  and  Bethsabe  scene  in  which 
characters  "  above  "  see  the  action  on  the  inner  stage,  be- 
comes intelligible  only  by  the  balcony-window  arrangement  ; 
and  this  situation  is  not  uncommon  in  Elizabethan  plays. 

Love's  Sacrifice,  V,  i.  "Enter  above  Fiormodo.  A  cur- 
taine  drawne,  below  are  discovered  Biancha,  in  her  night 
attire,  leaning  on  a  cushion  at  a  Table,  holding  Fernando  by 
the  hand."  Fiormodo's  remarks  show  plainly  that  she 
sees  the  lovers  who  are  behind  the  line  of  the  curtain.  If 
she  were  in  the  gallery,  this  would  be  exceedingly  awkward 
if  not  impossible;  but  seated  at  one  of  the  balcony  windows, 
she  easily  commands  a  view  of  the  scene  below. 

Humorous  Lieutenant,  I,  i.  The  usher  says  to  the  ladies, 
"  Madams,  the  best  way  is  the  upper  lodgings,  there  you  may 
see  at  ease."  Soon  the  King  enters  and  a  court  scene  takes 
place,  part  of  which  must  be  on  the  inner  stage. 

Emperor  of  the  East,  I,  2.  A  court  is  being  held  before 
Theodosius  and  Pulcheria.  The  former  is  struck  by  the 
beauty  of  one  in  the  crowd,  and  asks  his  eunuchs  to  bring 
him  "to  some  place  where"  he  "may  look  on  her  Demeanour. " 
Pulcheria  alone  continues  to  hear  and  dismiss  the  various 
suits.  Just  as  she  comes  to  Athenais,  "The  curtains  drawn 
above,  Theodosius  and  his  eunuchs  [are]  discovered." 

Michaelmas  Term,  II,  3.  In  come  Easy  and  Shortyard 
looking  for  a  shop.  "Sho.  Ay;  let  me  see;  this  is  it;  sign 
of  Three  Knaves;  'tis  it."  The  keeper  cries:  "What  lack 
you,  gentlemen?  See  good  kerseys  or  broadcloths  here; 
I  pray  come  near."  Here,  while  they  persuade  Easy  to 
sign  a  heavy  bond,  "Thomasine  above"  looks  on,  making 
an   occasional   remark.     This   transaction   must   be   at   the 


1/ 


70  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

counter,  at  the  edge  of  the  inner  stage,  but  one  at  a  balcony 
window,  could  easily  see  all. 

Other  illustrations  of  the  window  arrangement. 
Women  beware  Women,  I,  3.  "Bianca  and  mother  appear 
above."  Leantio,  who  is  now  leaving,  remarks,  "See,  and 
she  be  not  got  on  purpose  now  into  the  window  to  look  after 
me!"  They  are  still  lingering  here,  when  the  Duke  and  his 
procession  "pass  over  the  stage  in  great  pomp,  and  exeunt." 
Later  on  in  the  play,  the  statements  are  made:  "She  spied 
him  from  the  window."  "The  Duke  himself  just  spied  her 
at  the  window."  The  balcony  window  as  shown  in  Plate 
4  faces  the  opposite  door,  so  that  it  offers  an  advantageous, 
as  well  as  a  secluded,  position  for  observing  some  one  leaving 
or  entering  the  stage. 

Witches  of  Lancashire,  III,  1.  "  Enter  musicians  playing 
before  Lawrence,  Doughty,  Arthur,  Shakton,  Bantam,  Whet- 
stone, and  Gregory,  with  dishes:  A  Spirit  (over  the  doore) 
does  some  action  to  the  dishes  as  they  enter."  This  train 
was  most  likely  through  the  proscenium  doors,  and  the  Spirit 
could  find  no  place  to  lodge  "over  the  doore"  unless  there 
was  an  opening  there. 

Henry  VIII.,  V,  2.  Dr.  Buts,  seeing  the  treatment  which 
Cranmer  is  receiving,  hastens  to  inform  the  King.  Presently 
"Enter  the  king  and  Buts,  at  a  windowe  above."  After 
Henry  has  seen  the  situation,  he  says,  "Let  'em  alone,  and 
draw  the  curtain  close;  we  shall  hear  more  anon. "  x 

In  conclusion,  no  one  doubts  that  the  Elizabethans  knew 
r  the  art  of  acting.  Facial  expression  is  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance in  this,  and  only  by  means  of  these  cross-corner 
balcony  windows  can  this  be  secured  for  the  character  on 
the  lower  stage  in  communication  with  another  "above." 
The  many  passionate  love  scenes  which  took  place  at  this 
part  of  the  stage  would  lose  half  their  effect  if  the  face  of  the 
lover  could  not  be  seen.  What  would  that  beautiful  moon- 
light scene,  at  the  balcony  window,  between  the  world's 
famous  lovers  be,  if  Romeo  must  stand  with  his  back  to  the 
•  The  Devil  is  an  Ass,  II,  2,  has  a  unique  use  of  the  balcony  window 
in  connection  with  the  gallery. 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  71 

audience?     The  construction  on  our  own  stage  for  this  scene 
is  never  at  the  rear,  but  always  at  the  side. 

vii.     the  "hut" 

In  the  pictures  of  the  theaters  on  the  Bankside,  there  is 
seen  a  small  house  projecting  above  the  main  building,  which 
is  usually  known  as  the  "hut."  The  chief  purpose  of  this 
structure  is  neither  hard  to  conjecture  nor  to  prove.  Far 
back  in  the  Miracle  plays,  ascending  and  descending  with 
suitable  machinery  was  a  well-known  device.  This  idea 
would  naturally  be  carried  directly  down  into  the  Elizabethan 
drama  and  make  its  demands  felt  in  the  building  of  the  regular 
theaters.     The  "hut"  over  the  stage  is  the  result. 

This  elevated  structure  must  provide  room  not  only  for 
the  machinery  but  for  carrying  out  the  action  as  well:  in 
order  to  make  the  scene  at  all  effective,  the  characters  and 
vehicles  must  be  concealed  here  before  the  descension  and 
pass  up  completely  out  of  sight  in  the  ascension.  The  "hut" 
of  the  Hope  theater,  as  shown  in  the  Visscher  map,  extends 
from  a  fourth  to  a  third  of  the  way  across  the  building.  Mak- 
ing a  general  estimate  from  this  and  from  the  function  of  the 
little  house  in  the  plays,  I  should  say  it  was  a  building  about 
twenty  feet  square,  projecting  ten  feet  forward  and  backward 
over  the  gallery  curtain,  so  as  to  provide  a  means  of  ascent 
from  both  gallery  and  outer  stage.  To  the  fore-part  of  the 
"hut"  was  attached  a  shade  or  "shadow,"  which  served  as 
an  additional  covering  for  the  outer  stage.  The  base  of  the 
"hut,"  and  the  ceiling  of  the  gallery  and  shade  were  all  of  a 
piece,  and  formed  the  "heavens."  Hey  wood  in  his  Apology 
for  Actors,  1  says  of  the  Campo  Martio:  "The  covering  of 
the  stage,  which  we  call  the  heavens  (where  upon  any  occasion 
the  gods  descended) ,  was  geometrically  supported  by  giant- 
like atlas."  This  covering,  we  may  suppose,  was  painted 
to  represent,  or  at  least  to  suggest,  the  sky.  Perhaps  part 
of  the  floor  of  the  "hut"  was  made  of  canvas  or  cloth,  and 

i  Thomas  Heywood,  An  Apology  for  Actors,  1612.  Ed.  Collier, 
Sh.  Soc.  Pub.    1 84 1. 


72  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

so  arranged  that  bodies  could  ascend  or  descend  through  it 
without  any  apparent  opening.  An  idea  of  its  working 
may  be  understood  from  Coelum  Britannicum,  a  masque  per- 
formed at  Court  in  1633.  "And  then  rising  again  with  a 
gentle  motion  bears  up  the  Genius  of  the  three  Kingdomes, 
and  being  past  the  Airy  Region,  pierceth  the  Heavens  and  is 
no  more  seen." 

Before  subdividing  the  subject,  a  few  general  illustrations 
may  be  given. 

Alphonsus,  King  of  Arragon,  Prologue.  "After  you  have 
sounded  thrise,  let  Venus  be  let  downe  from  the  top  of  the 
Stage. " 

The  Widow's  Tears,  III,  2.  "Musique:  Hymen  descends; 
and  sixe  Sylvanes  enter  beneath,  with  Torches." 

Silver  Age,  II,  1.  "Iuno  and  Iris  descend  from  the 
heavens."  Act.  Ill,  1.  "Mercury  flies  from  above," 
saying,  "Thy  clamours  (Ceres)  have  ascent  through 
heaven." 
v7  v/  Brazen  Age,  V.  "  Jupiter  above  strikes  him  with  a  thunder- 
bolt, his  body  sinks,  and  from  the  heavens  descends  a  hand 
in  a  cloud,  that  from  the  place  where  Hercules  was  burnt, 
brings  up  a  starre,  and  fixeth  it  in  the  firmament. " 

A.    Descension  and  ascension  over  the  outer  stage 

\J  More  Dissemblers  besides  Women,  I,  3.  Duchess,  Celia, 
and  the  Cardinal  are  in  the  gallery  watching  for  the  procession 
to  pass.  Soon  the  victorious  Captain  enters,  and  "a  Cupid, 
descending,"  sings  over  him,  and  "ascends"  again. 

Wife  for  a  Month,  II,  1.  "  A  Curtain  drawn.  The  King, 
Queen,  Valerio,  Evanthe,  Ladies,  Attendants,  Camillo, 
Cleanthes,  Sorana,  Menallo"  are  all  seated  on  the  inner  stage. 
"A  Mask.  Cupid  descends,  the  Graces  sitting  by  him,  Cupid 
being  bound  the  Graces  unbind  him,  he  speaks."  After 
the  masque,  "Cupid  and  the  Graces  ascend  in  the 
Chariot." 

Women  beware  Women,  V,  1.  The  Duke  and  his  train  are 
seated  in  the  gallery  to  see  the  play  or  masque.     As  a  part 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  73 

of  the  performance,   "Livia  descends,  as  Juno,"  over  the 
altar  and  is  killed  by  the  poison  fume. 

The  Witch,  III,  3.  The  scene  is  a  field  where  the  witches 
are  holding  a  consultation.  Towards  the  close  "A  Spirit 
like  a  Cat  descends, "  and  calls  to  Hecate,  "  Either  come  or 
else  refuse."     She  obeys: 

"  Now  I  go,  now  I  fly, 
Malkin  my  sweet  spirit  and  I. 
O  what  a  dainty  pleasure  't  is 
To  ride  in  the  air,  etc." 

Golden  Age,  V,  1.  "Sound  a  dumbe  shew.  Enter  the 
three  fatall  sisters,  with  a  rocke,  a  thread,  and  a  paire  of 
sheeres;  bringing  in  a  Gloabe,  in  which  they  put  three  lots. 
Jupiter  drawes  heaven 1 :  at  which  Iris  descends  and  presents 
him  with  his  Eagle,  Crowne,  and  Scepter,  and  his  thunder-bolt. 
Jupiter  first  ascends  upon  the  Eagle,  and  after  him  Ganimed." 

B.     Descension  and  ascension  over  the  gallery 

In  the  last  section  of  illustrations  it  is  fairly  clear  that  the 
passage  of  the  heavenly  characters  was  through  the  floor 
of  the  hut,  projecting  beyond  the  gallery,  as  they  are  either 
above  or  in  contact  with  those  on  the  lower  stage.  Descend- 
ing into  the  gallery  was  probably  provided  for,  but  seems 
to  have  been  used  very  little — perhaps  because  the  distance 
was  short,  and,  therefore,  the  descent  would  be  less  realistic 
and  spectacular  than  over  the  outer  stage. 

The  Scholar,  Epilogue.  "First  to  the  gallery,  in  which  the 
throne,  to  their  amazement,  shall  descend  alone." 

It  would  be  more  appropriate,  and  was  so  used  occasionally, 
for  falling  bodies  and  trap-door  effects. 
^The  Picture,  IV,  2.  Ubaldo  has  been  locked  in  the  gallery 
and  is  unable  to  escape.  Suddenly,  he  is  joined  by  his  friend, 
who,  it  seems,  fell  through  the  ceiling, — "Ricardo,  entering 
with  a  great  noise  above,  as  fallen."     As  the  dazed  man 

1  This  word  does  not  refer  to  any  part  of  the  stage ;  but  simply  to 
one  of  the  three  lots  which  Jupiter  draws. 


V^ 


74  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

collects  himself,  he  says:  "Zounds  !  have  you  trapdoors  ?  .  .  . 
Whither  am  I  fallen  ?     into  hell  !" 

VIII.       MINOR  PARTS  OF  THE  STAGE 

A.     Traps 

The  outer  stage,  inner  stage,  and  gallery  each  contained 
one  or  more  traps.  The  number  and  exact  location  of  these 
are  of  no  consequence  even  if  it  were  possible  to  determine 
the  matter  with  certainty. 

If  this  be  not  a  Good  Play,  V.  "As  they  go  off,  from  under 
the  ground  in  severall  places,  rise  up  spirits." 

Whore  of  Babylon,  IV.  "A  cave  suddenly  breakes  open, 
and  out  of  it  comes  Falshood  (attir'd  as  Truth  is)  her  face 
spotted,  she  stickes  up  her  banner  on  the  top  of  the  Cave ;  then 
with  her  foot  in  severall  places  strikes  the  earth  and  up  riseth" 
eight  characters. 

The  inner  stage  needed  traps  for  pitfalls  in  wood  scenes, 
heads  rising  out  of  fountains,  brazen  heads  speaking,  and  the 
like.  Traps  in  the  gallery  were  of  course  only  for  occasional 
situations;  for  example,  the  Jew  of  Malta,  V,  4,  "Enter 
Barabas,  with  a  hammer,  above,  very  busy."  He  is  fixing 
a  death  trap  in  the  gallery  for  Calymath,  but  in  the  end  falls 
into  it  himself:  "A  charge,  the  cable  cut,  a  caldron  discovered 
into  which  Barabas  falls. " 

B.  Stairs 

The  stairs  connecting  the  upper  and  lower  stages  were 
located  somewhere  in  the  space  off  either  side  of  the  inner 
stage.  They  were,  of  necessity,  behind  the  scenes,  as  the 
gallery  or  balcony  window  and  lower  stage  are  often  used  in 
situations  which  require  the  two  to  be  without  visible  con- 
nection: the  enemy  are  besieging  a  city  and  the  townsmen 
enter  on  the  walls  and  defy  them;  or  a  character  is  in  prison 
in  the  gallery  or  the  rooms  on  either  side,  and  begs  those 
on  the  lower  stage  to  help  him  escape.  Hieronimo  in  the 
Spanish  Tragedy  takes  special  care  to  secure  the  keys,  after 
the  King  and  his  train  have  passed  into  the  gallery,  so  that 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  75 

he  may  carry  his  bloody  masque  to  completion.  Finally, 
and  possibly  the  most  definite  proof  of  all  that  these  stairs 
were  behind  the  scenes,  characters  passing  from  the  lower 
stage  to  the  gallery  or  balcony  window,  and  vice  versa,  are 
usually  followed  by  the  stage  directions  "Exit"  and  "Enter." 
There  should  be  a  second  set  of  stairs  on  either  side  of  the 
gallery  leading  to  the  "hut,"  and  a  third  between  the  base- 
ment and  lower  stage.  In  brief,  there  were  perhaps  three 
sets  of  stairs  on  either  side  of  the  stage:  the  first  from  base- 
ment to  lower  stage,  the  second  from  lower  to  upper  stage, 
and  the  third  from  upper  to  "hut" — all  behind  the  scenes, 
and,  for  the  economy  of  space,  the  second  and  third  directly 
over  the  first. 

C.     Tiring-house,  etc. 

The  tiring-house  and  place  for  properties  do  not  properly 
belong  to  the  stage,  and  may,  therefore,  be  dismissed  with  a 
word.  There  is  ample  room  for  both  in  the  spaces  on  the 
first  floor  behind  the  proscenium  doors,  and  on  the  second 
behind  the  balcony  windows. 

D.     Properties 

The  properties  on  the  Elizabethan  stage  were  sufficient, 
but  few  and  plain.  Their  purpose  was,  first,  to  give  the 
appearance  of  a  certain  location,  and  second,  to  permit  the  lines 
to  be  acted  out  in  a  realistic  manner.  Except  for  the 
"heavens,"  which  I  have  already  described,  there  was  no 
painted  scenery.  The  plays  have  no  perspective;  the  scene 
just  before  us  is  always  the  thing.  Characters  look  out  an 
opening  and  describe  other  places  and  objects,  but  the  scene 
itself  ends  where  it  begins.  The  plays  do  not  lend  them- 
selves to  distant  views,  but  are  focussed  on  the  properties 
on  the  stage.  When  the  "art  of  perspective  in  scenes"  came 
into  use  at  the  Restoration  the  difference  in  the  plays  is 
noticed  at  once;  the  stage  is  no  longer  the  stage,  but  a  part  of 
some  vast  space. 

The  majority  of  the  scenes  in  the  Elizabethan  drama,  using 


7G  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

properties,  may  be  classed  under  three  heads:  i.  Room  or 
hall  scenes.  2.  Scenes  of  nature.  3.  Shop  scenes.  For 
the  purpose  of  listing  the  properties  the  first  two  may  be 
subdivided. 

1.  Room  or  hall  scenes,  el.  Bedroom;  a  bed,  table,  chairs 
or  stools,  and  lights  are  the  properties  regularly  used  or 
mentioned,  b.  Hall;  table,  chairs,  and  stools,  c.  Presence 
chamber;  throne,  and  occasionally  table  and  chairs.  d. 
Courtroom;  a  bar,  table,  and  chairs,  e.  Church  or  temple;  an 
altar  and,  if  needed,  a  tomb.  Prison  scenes  may  some- 
times be  included  under  "b,"  but  usually  no  properties  are 
mentioned  except  fetters  and  chains. 

2.  Scenes  of  nature.  &.  Woods  or  park;  large  and  small 
artificial  trees,  mossy  banks,  and  sometimes  a  rock  or  two. 
b.  Garden;  .small  artificial  trees  or  shrubbery,  and  benches. 

3.  Shop  scenes;  a  counter  and  a  few  wares  to  indicate 
the  class  of  trade  to  which  the  shop  belongs. 

The  floor  in  all  scenes  was  covered  with  rushes,  which 
were  suitable  for  any  setting.  If  a  room,  rushes  being  at  that 
date  a  regular  carpet,  they  were  in  place;  if  a  nature  scene, 
they  harmonized  with  the  green  foliage  and  lost  their  identity. 

The  above  are  not  all  the  set  scenes  nor  are  the  properties 
there  listed  all  those  that  were  ever  used,  but  they  are  the 
usual  scenes  and  their  usual  properties.  I  say  again  the 
setting  was  plain  and  simple,  but  amply  sufficient  to  create 
the  proper  illusion  and  to  meet  all  the  demands  of  the  lines. 
Even  after  the  Restoration  the  setting  was  often  very  meagre 
and  plain.  Spanish  Friar,  II,  2.  "Scene,  A  Chamber. 
A  table  and  wine  set  out."  Limberham,  I,  1.  "An  open 
garden  house;  a  table  in  it  and  chairs. "  Wild  Gallant,  IV,  1. 
"Table  set  with  cards  upon  it.     Trice  walking." 

Each  part  of  the  stage  has  now  been  considered  separately, 
and  in  conclusion  I  will  discuss  briefly  the  drawings,  as  a 
summary  to  the  chapter.  I  have  used  the  following  figures 
and  suggestions  from  the  Fortune  Contract :  the  height  of  the 
three  galleries,  12,  11,  'and  9  feet  respectively, — retaining 
the  first,  or  1 2  feet,  as  the  height  of  the  stage  gallery;  the  depth 


n 


I 


Plate  8.— a  typicai   Shaksperian  Stage— Ground  plans 


A  TYPICAL  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE  77 

of  the  second  gallery,  13^  feet,  as  the  combined  depth  of  the 
off-set,  3^  feet  for  the  cross-corner  proscenium  doors,  and 
the  inner  stage,  10  feet;  the  stage  posts  "with  carved  pro- 
portions called  Satires,"  railing,  and  "shadow."  The  fol- 
lowing are  from  the  Messallina  picture:  the  converging  outer 
stage  with  its  railing ;  the  figured  curtains ;  and  the  suggestion 
of  a  brick  wall  in  the  rear  of  the  gallery.  The  only  point  in 
the  perspective  view  (Plate  4)  that  needs  explanation  is  the 
curtain  arrangement.  As  it  is  impossible  to  form  a  proper 
idea  of  the  space  behind  the  hangings  with  the  curtains  closed, 
the  left  curtain  to  the  inner  stage  is  drawn  and  the  right 
closed,  while  the  right  gallery  curtain  is  entirely  removed 
and  the  left  partly  drawn.  The  exact  dimensions  of  all 
parts  of  our  reconstructed  stage  according  to  the  plans  in 
Plate  8  are  as  follows: 

I.  Plan  of  the  lower  stage,  showing  -afeo  the  relative 
position  of  the  "hut"  and  shade.  Broken  lines  indicate  the 
"hut,"  dotted  lines  the  shade,  and  waved  lines  the  curtain. 
jj  are  the  stage  posts,  xx  the  proscenium  doors,  dee  the  curtain, 
yyyy  the  "  wings,"  higedf  the  outer  stage,  deut  the  inner,  rjjs 
the  "hut,"  and  jopj  the  shade.  The  distance  from  h  to  i  is 
15  feet,  f  to  g  39  feet,  a  to  c  26£  feet,  j  to  j  20  feet,  /  to  o  6 
feet,  ;  to  r  20  feet,  d  to  e  25  feet,  and  b  to  c  10  feet. 

II.  Plan  of  the  upper  stage,  showing  also  the  relative 
position  of  the  projecting  "hut"  and  shade.  The  line- 
marking  is  the  same  as  in  I.  ww  are  the  balcony  windows 
deut  the  gallery,  dee  the  gallery  curtain,  and  zz  the  gallery 
doors.      The  distance  from  d  to  e  is  25  feet,  and  d  to  t  10  feet. 

III.  Plan  of  the  "heavens."  This  represents  one  plane 
formed  by  the  base  of  the  "hut"  and  the  ceiling  of  the  gallery 
and  shade.  The  broken  line  indicates  the  connection  of  the 
"hut"  and  shade,  and  the  waved  line  the  suspended  gallery 
curtain.  The  dimensions  of  the  "hut"  and  shade  have  been 
given  in  I,  and  the  gallery  in  II. 

The  proscenium  doors  and  balcony  windows  are  from  6 
to  7  feet  wide;  the  inner  stage  is  12  feet  high  and  the  gallery 
13  feet,  making  the  "heavens"  25  feet  above  the  lower  stage. 

This  reconstruction  attempts  to  be  a  typical  stage  of  the 


78  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

Elizabethan  period,  or  rather  an  effort  to  show  the  principal 
parts  of  that  stage  in  their  relation  to  each  other.  The  archi- 
tecture and  special  shaping  of  the  various  parts  perhaps 
differed  with  each  theater:  the  Fortune  stage  was  in  a  square 
building,  and  the  Globe  in  an  octagonal;  the  Rose  had  one 
"hut"  and  the  Globe  two;  the  outer  stage  may  have  been 
square  in  its  earlier  history,  and  converging  in  its  later; 
the  Fortune  may  have  had  posts  on  the  stage,  and  the  Red 
Bull  none;  the  Blackfriars  was  roofed,  and  the  Globe  "open 
to  the  weather."  All  such  individual  arrangements  are, 
indeed,  objects  of  great  interest,  but  of  no  vital  effect  on  the 
plays.  The  outer  stage  with  its  proscenium  doors;  the  inner 
stage,  its  curtain,  and  side  entrances ;  the  gallery,  its  window, 
curtain,  and  doors;  the  balcony  windows;  and  the  "heavens" 
high  over  all — these  are  the  parts  which  were  reckoned  with 
by  Shakspere  and  his  fellow  dramatists  in  their  workshops, 
and  which  therefore  influenced  the  construction  of  their 
plays.  In  all  points,  however,  I  have  aimed  at  a  plain, 
practical,  consistent  stage, — a  stage  for  the  story-like  drama 
of  long  ago. 


CHAPTER  IV 

SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  RESTORATION  STAGING 

INTRODUCTION 

This  chapter  is  devoted  (i)  to  a  brief  description  of  the 
method  of  performing  a  modern  melodrama,  and  (2)  to  an 
investigation  of  certain  principles  of  Restoration  staging 
which  seem  to  be  survivals  from  Elizabethan  times.  As  such  a 
study  in  the  midst  of  chapters  on  the  Elizabethan  stage 
is  plainly  a  digression,  some  explanation  of  the  advantage  of 
treating  these  two  subjects  at  this  point  in  the  essay  may  be 
given : 

1.  There  is  still  an  occasional  play,  especially  among  the 
cheaper  melodramas,  with  several  scenes  to  the  act,  and 
consequently  a  special  kind  of  stage  is  temporarily  arranged 
by  the  aid  of  the  "drop"  and  "wings"  with  doors  in  them 
to  meet  the  needs  of  its  production.  With  the  exception  of 
painted  scenery  and  a  front  curtain,  this  improvised  stage 
is  nothing  more  than  a  modified  form  of  the  old  Shaksperian 
outer-inner  stage — the  outer  before  the  "drop"  and  the 
inner  behind  it;  and  as  stage  and  staging  go  hand  in  hand, 
the  method  of  presenting  a  play  on  this  new-old  stage  con- 
tains certain  principles  which  were  in  use  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  Therefore,  a  brief  description  of  the  performance 
of  a  modern  play  with  eight  or  ten  scenes,  aided  by  pictures  of 
the  stage  in  each  scene,  will  serve  as  a  practical  introduction 
to  the  last  three  chapters  of  this  essay.  It  will  define  certain 
terms  which  will  be  frequently  used  throughout  the  remainder 
of  the  dissertation ;  it  will  introduce  us  to  several  of  the  most 
important  principles  of  Elizabethan  and  Restoration  staging, 
which  are  later  discussed  at  length;  it  will  show  us  these 
79 


80  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

principles  in  working  order  on  our  own  stage;  and,  most 
important  of  all,  it  will  fit  us  to  understand  without  frequent 
and  detailed  explanations  each  step  in  the  study  of  the 
Dryden  and  Shaksperian  methods  of  staging. 

2.  A  careful  examination  of  certain  principles  in  Restora- 
tion staging  will  throw  considerable  light  on  the  more  obscure 
Elizabethan  conditions.  As  I  have  already  shown,  the  stage 
of  1660-1700  was  very  similar  in  the  arrangement  of  its  parts 
to  the  Shaksperian,  and  in  all  probability  certain  laws  of 
staging  on  the  earlier  survived  on  the  later.  These  laws  are 
easily  shown  in  the  plays  after  1660,  because  the  stage  direc- 
tions are  sufficiently  explicit ;  but  sometimes  with  considerable 
difficulty  in  plays  before  that  date,  because  the  stage  directions 
are  often  indefinite  or  not  there  at  all.  The  special  student 
of  the  stage  sees  that  this  or  that  situation  in  a  Shaksperian 
play  was  played  so  and  so,  but  a  proof  of  his  ideas  that  can  be 
presented  in  a  few  pages  is  at  times  very  hard  to  give.  At  his 
hand,  however,  is  a  Restoration  play  with  the  same  situation, 
and  here  the  action  is  fully  explained  by  the  dramatist's  own 
words.  Therefore,  since  both  the  Shaksperian  and  the 
Dryden  theaters  had  outer- inner  stages,  the  explanation  of  a 
scene  on  the  later  stage  affords  some  assistance  in  proving  the 
method  of  producing  the  same  kind  of  scene  on  the  earlier. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  a  brief  study  of  the  Restoration  stage 
is  necessary  in  an  investigation  of  the  Elizabethan.  But 
instead  of  interweaving  the  discussion  of  the  staging  of  the 
two  periods,  it  seems  advisable  to  show  at  the  outset,  in  a 
separate  chapter,  the  existence  of  certain  principles  in  the 
later  period;  and  then,  with  this  knowledge  in  hand,  to  pro- 
ceed to  a  study  of  Shaksperian  staging.  This  is  the  method 
I  have  adopted.  In  the  present  chapter  I  have  attempted  not 
to  make  a  complete  study  of  the  Restoration  stage  but  to 
show  the  presence  there  of  a  few  principles  and  special  fea- 
tures which  I  believe  to  be  survivals  from  Elizabethan  times. 
In  the  last  two  chapters  the  Shaksperian  method  of  stage 
presentation  is  studied.  An  effort  is  there  made  to  prove  all 
points  from  Elizabethan  plays,  and  Restoration  conditions 
are  called  on  only  for  confirmatory  evidence ;  but  all  the  while 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  RESTORATION  STAGING  81 

the  knowledge  of  certain  methods  of  staging  in  the  later 
period  serves  as  a  kind  of  background,  and  assures  us  that 
we  are  proceeding  in  the  right  way. 

I.   PRESENTATION  OF  A  MODERN  MELODRAMA 

With  the  aid  of  the  cuts  in  Plate  9 1  and  the  synopsis  on 
the  play-bill,  I  shall  give  an  outline  of  the  presentation  of  The 
Outlaw's  Christmas,  which  I  witnessed  in  the  American  Theater, 
New  York  City,  on  August  7,  1907.  This  play  is  a  fair  illus- 
tration of  its  type,  and  similar  ones  may  be  seen  at  any  time 
by  all  who  care  to  visit  the  so-called  "  Homes  of  Melodrama. " 
The  term  "outer  scene"  is  used  here  and  throughout  the 
essay  to  mean  a  scene,  usually  without  properties,  on  the  outer 
stage;  and  "inner  scene,"  one  on  both  outer  and  inner  stages 
with  the  regular  setting  on  the  latter.  The  words  "  property  " 
and  "properties"  refer  to  any  part  of  the  setting  except  the 
"flat"  scenery. 

The  Outlaw's  Christmas,  Act  I,  Scene  1 .  "On  the  adjoining 
roofs  of  a  New  York  apartment  house.  The  fall  of  the  year." 
Inner  scene.  The  whole  stage  was  used  with  the  setting 
shown  in  Plate  9.  Though  not  noticeable  in  the  scene,  the 
properties  were  kept  well  back  from  the  front  of  the  stage. 
Scene  2.  "Boudoir  in  Anna  Robinson's  flat.  Same  day." 
Outer  scene.  Just  as  the  first  scene  closed  a  "drop"  fell  on 
about  one  third  of  the  stage,  cutting  off  all  the  properties  from 
view  and  apparently  giving  us  a  new  scene.  The  characters 
entered  through  the  doors  in  the  "  wings  " — the  old  proscenium 
doors — and  the  opening  in  the  "drop,"  and  the  action  was  re- 
sumed at  once  on  this  bare  outer  stage.  It  was  dignified  with 
the  name  of  a  lady's  boudoir,  but  it  little  resembled  one.  The 
action  was  nothing  more  than  a  necessary  dialogue,  but  it 
was  supposed  to  take  place  in  Anna  Robinson's  house.  Scene 
3.  "Same  as  Scene  1.  Same  day."  Inner  scene.  As  the 
"drop"  rose,  the  front  of  the  stage,  which  had  just  been  a 
private  room,  became  a  part  of  the  roof  scene,  and  all  was  in 

1  These  cuts  were  drawn  from  my  description  of  the  scenes  as  they 
were  presented  on  the  stage. 

6 


82  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

readiness  to  begin  the  action  without  a  moment's  delay.  It 
will  be  noticed,  thus  far,  that  when  the  "drop"  was  down  the 
space  before  it,  though  without  properties,  was  a  stage  in 
itself;  when  the  "drop"  was  raised,  the  division  between  the 
outer  and  the  inner  stages  being  removed,  the  two  became  one, 
and  the  properties  ranged  on  the  inner  gave  the  setting  for 
the  whole. 

Act.  II,  Scene  i.  "Jack  Foster's  cabin  in  the  Klondike. 
Winter. "  Inner  scene.  The  whole  stage  was  used  with  the 
setting  shown  in  Plate  9.  Scene  2.  "  Interior  of  an  abandoned 
gold  mine.  Same  night."  Outer  scene.  Once  more  a 
"drop"  fell  on  about  one  third  of  the  stage,  cutting  off  all 
properties,  and  the  characters  carrying  torches  rushed  across 
the  scene  by  way  of  the  proscenium-wing  doors  as  if  in 
an  abandoned  mine.  Scene  3.  "Same  as  Scene  1.  Two 
weeks  later. "  Inner  scene.  The  " drop"  rose  and  the  whole 
stage  again  became  the  scene  in  the  Klondike. 

Act  III,  Scene  1.  "Grand  Canyons  in  Colorado.  Five 
months  later.  Summer."  Inner  scene.  The  whole  stage  was 
used  with  the  setting  shown  in  Plate  9.  Scene  2.  "Lonely 
mountain  trail.  Same  day."  Outer  scene.  A  "drop"  fell 
at  about  the  usual  place,  and  the  former  scene  was  hidden. 
The  only  property  here  was  a  block  of  wood,  which  was  ap- 
propriate in  the  preceding  as  well  as  the  following  scene,  and 
consequently  remained  before  the  line  of  the  "drop"  through- 
out the  act.  The  audience  was  favored  with  "Specialities" 
in  this  scene,  which  was  simply  to  give  time  for  preparing  the 
new  setting,  which  was  rapidly  taking  shape  behind  the 
"drop."  Scene  3.  "The  shores  of  the  Rio  Grande  River. 
Two  weeks  later."  Inner  scene.  The  "drop"  rose,  and  the 
space  of  the  mountain  trail  faded  into  a  rather  beautiful  scene 
representing  the  banks  of  a  river. 

Act  IV,  Scene  i .  "Living room  in  an  old  fashioned  cottage 
on  the  Palisades,  New  York.  Five  months  later."  Outer 
scene  with  three  pieces  of  property.  About  one  half  of  the 
stage  was  visible  before  the  "drop,"  and  contained  a  chair 
near  one  "wing"  and  a  stand  with  a  lamp  on  it  near  the  other. 
Scene   2.     "The  Palisades.      Same  night."     As  the  "drop" 


EH 

xu^c^^^ctsy, 

WwMM* 

-   >..^*^    .■■■* 

'iidLjf    T"*-*^, '  ^ 

M     ^3PP" 

Plate  q. — The  Scenes  in   77^  Outlaw's  Christmas  (1907) 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  RESTORATION  STAGING  83 

rose  on  a  darkened  stage,  the  chair  and  stand  disappeared 
through  the  "wings,"  and  the  space  of  the  living  room  became 
a  part  of  the  wintry  out-door  scene  on  the  Palisades. 

From  the  method  employed  in  staging  this  play  we  are 
able  to  deduce  certain  principles, — principles  as  old  as  the 
Elizabethan  drama.  The  properties  used  and  the  nature  of 
the  setting  in  general  are  of  no  consequence  to  us,  but  the  laws 
observed  in  the  manipulation  of  this  outer-inner  stage  should 
be  carefully  noticed :  First,  the  properties  were  for  the  most 
part  confined  to  the  rear  of  the  platform,  and  changed  either 
during  an  act-division  or  during  the  playing  of  a  scene  on  the 
outer  stage;  second,  when  the  "drop"  was  down,  the  space  be- 
fore it  was  a  stage  in  itself;  when  the  "drop"  was  raised,  the 
outer  and  inner  stages  became  one  with  the  action  over  any 
part  of  the  two,  and  the  properties  in  the  rear  gave  the  setting 
for  the  whole;  third,  by  means  of  the  alternation  of  outer  and 
inner  scenes  the  action  was  virtually  continuous  throughout 
the  act;  that  is,  no  time  was  lost  between  the  scenes  except  for 
the  lowering  and  raising  of  the  "drop,"  which  was  practically 
nothing.  In  addition  to  these  principles,  it  should  also  be 
observed,  for  the  aid  it  will  give  us  in  understanding  the 
Restoration  drama,  (i)  that  the  localities  marked  in  the  text 
gave  no  idea  of  the  absence  or  presence  of  properties  on  the 
stage  during  the  scene,  and  (2)  that  though  two  propertied 
scenes  came  together  in  the  last  act,  the  arrangement  of  the 
settings  and  scenes  was  such  that  no  delay  was  occasioned  in 
the  change. 

2.       SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  RESTORATION   STAGING 

With  the  foregoing  principles  before  us,  we  will  pass  at  once 
to  a  study  of  a  few  laws  and  special  features  of  Restoration 
staging.  Here  the  outer-inner  stage  was  a  permanent  ar- 
rangement, and  the  principles  that  we  have  already  observed 
were  regularly  used  in  the  main  body  of  plays.  In  the  ac- 
companying illustration  (Plate  10)  may  be  seen  the  form  of  the 
English  stage  in  1763.  Some  changes  had  already  taken  place 
since  the  days  of  Dryden.    Boxes  had  been  placed  on  the  stage, 


\f 


84  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

the  balcony  windows  were  little  used  as  such  but  mainly  as 
gallery  boxes,  and  the  outer  stage  had  been  abbreviated  and 
the  inner  proportionately  enlarged.  But  with  a  proper  al- 
lowance for  these  changes,  we  can  from  the  Fitz-Giggo  picture 
form  a  fair  idea  of  the  Restoration  stage.  Some  distance 
back  on  the  stage  is  the  proscenium  arch  where  the  curtain 
operates;  behind  the  scenic  opening  is  the  inner  stage;  and 
before  it  is  the  outer  stage  with  a  proscenium  door  and  a 
balcony  window  on  either  side,  and  without  any  curtain 
whatever  in  front  of  it. 

The  outer  stage  after  1660  is  usually  called  the  "apron," 
as  though  it  were  a  mere  extension  of  the  inner  stage.  To 
anticipate  our  detailed  discussion,  we  may  state  here  that  when 
the  curtain  was  closed,  this  outer  part  was  a  stage  in  itself 
with  its  own  entrances  and  exits  and  its  own  scenes ;  but  when 
the  curtain  was  drawn,  it  lost  its  identity  and  became  part 
of  the  inner  stage.  The  curtain  would  of  course  be  the  regular 
division  between  the  two  stages,  but  as  painted  scenery  was 
now  in  use,  "  flats"  at  the  proscenium  arch  or  a  short  distance 
back  usually  took  its  place.  *  Perspective  on  the  inner  stage 
would  naturally  call  for  painted  "flats"  to  back  the  outer. 
These  would  be  more  expressive  than  the  curtain,  and  would 
in  no  way  whatever  affect  the  principles  of  stage  presentation, 
which  we  are  about  to  consider.  I  shall,  therefore,  use  the 
terms,  "curtain,"  "flats,"  and  "curtain  and  flats"  indis- 
criminately in  speaking  of  this  division  on  the  stage  after 
1660 

Before  attempting  to  note  certain  principles  in  Restoration 
staging,  it  seems  advisable  to  give  an  outline  of  the  stage 
presentation  of  a  complete  play.  The  terms  "outer  scene" 
and  "inner  scene"  will  be  used  with  the  same  significance  as 
in  The  Outlaw's  Christmas. 

The  Fate  of  Capua,  Act  I,  Scene  i.  "The  Senate. "  Inner 
scene.  The  senators  are  in  session  discussing  their  future 
relations  towards  Hannibal.     The  outer  and  inner  stages  are 

1  An  illustration  of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  illustrated  quarto  of 
Settle's  Empress  of  Morocco.  The  cut  opposite  page  9  ot  the  quarto 
shows  a  painted  "flat"  at  the  proscenium  arch. 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  RESTORATION  STAGING  85 

used  as  one  with  the  setting  on  the  inner1  and  the  action  on 
both.  Scene  2.  "The  Outside  of  the  Palace.  Enter 
Pacuvius  with  Guards.  Virginius  heading  the  Rabble." 
Outer  scene.  The  "fiats "  are  closed  and  the  action  takes  place 
on  the  outer  stage  without  properties.  Scene  3.  "  Vir- 
ginius's  House.  Favonia  at  work  with  her  Women. "  Inner 
scene.  The  "fiats"  are  drawn  and  both  stages  are  used  as 
one  with  the  setting  on  the  inner  and  the  action  on  both. 

Act  II,  Scene  i.  "The  Forum.  Enter  Decius  Magius 
with  Perolla,  and  two  or  three  of  his  Clients  among  the 
Citizens. "  Inner  scene.  The  space  of  both  stages  is  usually- 
needed  in  the  Forum  scenes,  though  of  course  few  properties 
are  used.  Scene  2.  "Virginius's  House.  Enter  Favonia, 
a  Woman  following."  Outer  scene  and  part  inner.2  The 
"flats"  close  on  a  small  part  of  the  inner  stage  on  which 
perhaps  a  few  properties  are  located,  but  the  action  takes  place 
mainly  on  the  outer  stage.  Towards  the  end  of  the  scene 
Favonia  passes  out,  and  Virginius  and  Junius  enter.  Vir- 
ginius says  to  his  friend,  "I  need  not  tell  you,  you  command 
all  here.  .  .  .  Rest  on  my  arm,  and  let  me  lead  you  in. " 
Scene  3.  "The  Scene  changes  to  Favonia' s  Apartment. 
Favonia  leaning  on  her  Hand  in  a  Chair.  Virginius  leading 
Junius  into  the  Room. "  Inner  scene.  The  "flats  "are  drawn 
and  the  two  stages  become  one  with  the  setting  on  the  inner 
and  the  action  on  both.  Here  are  three  scenes  in  succes- 
sion, and  yet  they  are  so  arranged  that  the  action  is  practically 

t  By  the  term  "setting  on  the  inner  stage,"  I  mean,  as  will  he  ex- 
plained later,  that  the  regular  setting  was  on  the  inner  stage  when  the 
curtains  were  drawn.  The  movable  properties  did  not  necessarily 
remain  there  throughout  the  action,  as  the  scene,  a  room,  for  example, 
being  once  before  the  audience,  the  tables,  chairs,  etc.,  could  be  moved 
about  on  the  stage  at  the  pleasure  of  the  actors.  The  term  will  be 
used  in  this  sense  throughout  the  remainder  of  this  study. 

2  This  phrase  is  used  when  it  seems  the  "flats"  were  not  at  the 
proscenium  arch  but  some  distance  back  on  the  inner  stage,  so  that  the 
scene  included  the  outer  stage  and  a  small  part  of  the  inner.  There 
were  either  no  properties  or  very  few  that  could  be  removed  quickly 
and  without  notice,  or  such  as  would  be  in  place  when  the  "flats" 
were  drawn. 


80  THE  SHAKSPEKIAN  STAGE 

continuous  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  During  the  change 
from  Scene  2  to  Scene  3  the  characters  remain  on  the  stage, 
and  are  now  in  one  room  and  now  in  another  according  as  the 
"flats "  are  closed  or  drawn.  Notice  the  effect  secured  by  this 
rapid  change ;  Junius  knows  the  fate  which  awaits  him  if  he 
once  again  sees  Favonia,  and  would  avoid  a  meeting  if  possible, 
but  suddenly  and  irresistibly  he  finds  himself  in  her  presence. 

Act  III, Scene  1.  "AGarden.  Enter  Pacuvius  and  Perolla." 
Inner  scene.  The  whole  stage  is  used  with  properties  on 
the  inner  to  represent  a  garden.  Scene  2.  "Virginius's 
House.  Enter  Junius."  Outer  scene  and  part  inner.  The 
"flats"  are  closed,  revealing  perhaps  a  small  part  of  the 
inner  stage.  The  scene  is  simply  a  monologue  by  Junius,  and 
no  properties  are  needed.  Scene  3.  "The  Forum.  Enter 
three  or  four  Citizens  of  the  better  sort. "  Inner  scene.  Same 
as  the  previous  Forum  scene.  Scene  4.  "  Scene  changes  to 
Virginius's  House.  Enter  Junius."  Outer  scene  and  part 
inner.  Same  as  Scene  2.  The  scene  is  little  more  than  a 
passage  across  the  stage  by  Junius  as  he  goes  to  take  his  last 
leave  of  Favonia.  Scene  5.  "Scene  changes,  and  shows 
Favonia  asleep  on  a  Couch  in  an  Undress.  Junius  returns." 
Inner  scene.  The ' '  flats ' '  of  the  previous  scene  draw,  and  both 
stages  become  the  apartment  of  Favonia.  Here  the  change 
from  Scene  4  to  Scene  5  does  not  occur  with  Junius  on  the 
stage  as  in  II,  2-3,  because  the  situation  is  different.  Instead 
of  a  sudden  surprise,  we  need  a  quiet,  reflective  opening, — 
simply  a  warning  of  what  is  coming,  and  then  a  moment  to 
gaze  on  that  sleeping  woman,  beautiful  and  innocent,  before 
the  action  is  carried  into  effect. 

Act.  IV,  Scene  1.  "The  Forum.  Junius,  with  Citizens." 
Inner  scene.  Same  as  previous  Forum  scenes.  Scene  2. 
"Scene  changes  to  Pacuvius's  House.  Enter  Pacuvius  and 
Servant."  Outer  scene.  The  scene  is  short  and  conversa- 
tional, and  no  properties  are  needed.  Scene  3.  "Scene 
changes  to  the  Forum.  A  Crowd  of  Citizens."  Inner  scene. 
This  is  the  usual  Forum  scene.  Scene  4.  "Virginius's 
House.  Enter  Virginius  with  a  Servant."  Outer  scene  and 
part  inner.     Same  as  III,  4.      Virginius  says  to  the  servant, 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  RESTORATION  STAGING  87 

"You  know  the  rest,  tell  her  that  I  am  here."  "Ex.  Ser- 
vant." Scene  5.  "Scene  opens,  and  shows  Favonia  on 
the  Ground."  Inner  scene.  Towards  the  close  "A  Servant 
enters  with  a  Dagger  in  one  Hand,  and  a  Bowl  in  t'other,  and 
gives  'em  to  Virginius,  who  places  'em  on  a  Table  by  Favonia. " 
Soon  after  this,  "The  Scene  shuts  upon  Favonia;  he  goes  off." 
Here  again  one  scene  merges  into  another  with  characters  on 
the  stage  during  the  change.  But  this  time  the  character  on 
the  inner  stage  comes,  by  drawing  the  "  flats, "  into  the  pres- 
ence of  those  on  the  outer,  instead  of  the  opposite,  as  in 
II,  5-6. 

Act  V,  Scene  i.  "The  Forum.  Enter  Pacuvius,  Vibius 
Virius,  and  Marius  Blosius,  with  the  Senators  in  their  several 
Parties."  Inner  scene.  Same  as  previous  Forum  scenes. 
Scene  2.  "  Virginius's  House.  Favonia  enters  with  a  Dagger 
in  one  Hand,  and  a  Bowl  in  t'other. "  Outer  scene  and  part 
inner.  Same  as  IV,  4.  After  a  soliloquy,  "She  drinks, 
throws  the  Bowl  one  way,  and  the  Dagger  another."  It  is 
evident  that  no  properties  are  on  the  stage,  as  Favonia  enters 
carrying  all  that  is  needed.1  Scene  3.  "Pacuvius's  House. 
Pacuvius,  Vibius  Virius,  Marius  Blosius,  with  seven  or  eight 
Senators  rising  from  a  Feast."  Inner  scene.  The  whole 
stage  is  used  with  the  properties  on  the  inner  and  the  action 
on  both. 

For  the  sake  of  referring  to  this  play  later,  I  have  stated  a 
number  of  points  which  remain  to  be  proved.  It  is  sufficient 
here  to  notice  that  there  are  marked  peculiarities  in  the 
staging.  There  are  from  three  to  five  scenes  to  an  act; 
some  need  properties,  others  do  not,  and  there  is  a  marked 
regularity  in  the  alternation  of  the  two  classes ;  scenes  change 
with  characters  on  the  stage,  etc.  These  questions  will  now 
be  taken  up  separately  with  a  view  to  establishing  the  follow- 
ing principles  of  Restoration  staging. 

1  In  this  scene  three  characters  are  left  dead  on  the  stage.  Un- 
doubtedly the  curtains  closed  on  them,  and  as  they  escaped,  the 
"flats"  representing  Virginius's  house  drew,  and  the  curtains  parted 
for  the  final  scene.  Since  there  were  no  properties  to  remove,  the 
whole  would  take  only  enough  time  to  close  and  open  the  curtains. 


88  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

I.        LOCATION  OP  A  REGULAR  SETTING 

The  properties  of  a  regular  setting  were  located  on  the 
inner  stage,  and  changed  for  a  new  scene  either  during  an  act- 
division  or  during  the  playing  of  a  scene  on  the  outer  stage.1 
First,  we  have  seen  the  operation  of  this  principle  in  the 
presentation  of  The  Outlaw's  Christmas.  The  regular  settings 
there  were  always  on  the  inner  stage,  and  in  Act  III,  the 
Grand  Canyon  scene  was  changed  to  the  Rio  Grande,  while  the 
mountain  trail  scene  was  being  played  before  the  "drop." 
Second,  three  of  the  pictures  of  the  Duke's  theater,  published 
in  Settle's  Empress  of  Morocco  in  1673,  show  a  full  setting  in 
each  case  on  the  inner  stage,  and  not  a  single  property  on 
the  outer.  Third,  numerous  situation,  such  as  the  following, 
in  Restoration  as  well  as  eighteenth-century  plays  show  the 
presence  and  necessity  of  this  principle : 

Author's  Farce,  Act  III,  Scene  i.  "The  Play-House. 
Enter  Luckless  as  Master  of  the  Show,  and  Manager."  (Outer 
scene.)  After  a  few  words  between  these  two  with  regard  to  the 
show  (Scene  2),  "the  Curtain  draws,  and  discovers  Punch 
in  a  Great  Chair. "  (Inner  scene.)  Scene  3.  When  the  second 
scene  is  over  and  the  curtains  are  closed,  Luckless  announces 
the  next  play.  (Outer  scene.)  Scene  4.  "The  Curtain 
drawn  up  to  soft  Music  discovers  the  Goddess  of  Nonsense 
on  a  Throne,  the  Orator  in  a  Tub,"  etc.  (Inner  scene.) 
There  were  perhaps  a  few  chairs  on  the  outer  stage  throughout 
the  play,  but  the  regular  settings  were  plainly  behind  the  line 
of  the  curtain ;  and,  more  than  this,  Scene  2  changed  to  Scene  4 
while  the  action  continued  between  Luckless  and  the  Manager 
on  the  outer  stage. 

Historical  Register,  Act  I,  Scene  i.  "The  Play-House. 
Enter  several  Players."  (Outer  scene.)  Medley,  the  author, 
is  describing  the  first  scene  to  Mr.  Sowrwit  when  the  prompter 
announces  that  "they  are  ready."     Medley  replies,  "Then 

1  The  outer  stage  in  the  Restoration,  as  I  have  already  explained, 
sometimes  included  part  of  the  inner;  that  is,  it  consisted  of  the 
space  before  the  curtains  or  "flats, "  the  latter  of  which  were  occasion- 
ally some  distance  back  on  the  inner  stage. 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  RESTORATION  STAGING  89 

draw  the  Scene,  and  discover  them."  Scene  2.  "Scene 
draws,  and  discovers  Five  Politicians  sitting  at  a  Table." 
(Inner  scene.)  Act  II.  has  a  similar  opening  in  which — Scene 
1 — Medley  gives  orders  to  "  draw  the  Scene  and  discover  the 
Ladies  in  Council."  (Outer  scene.)  Scene  2.  "The  scene 
draws,  and  discovers  four  Ladies."  (Inner  Scene.)  Scene 
3.  The  scene  ended  and  the  curtains  or  "flats"  closed,  a 
little  scene  ensues,  as  usual,  on  the  outer  stage.  (Outer 
scene.)  Presently  the  prompter  again  appears  to  announce 
that  everything  is  prepared  for  the  next  scene.  Medley  says, 
"Then  draw  up  the  Curtain,"  etc.  Scene  4.  "An  Auction- 
Room,  A  Pulpit  and  Forms  plac'd  and  several  People  walking 
about,  some  seated  near  the  Pulpit."  (Inner  scene.)  Here, 
as  in  the  Author's  Farce,  it  is  clear  that  the  regular  settings 
were  on  the  inner  stage,  and  in  case  of  Scenes  2,  3,  4.  the  play 
continued  before  the  curtain  while  the  stage  was  being  reset 
behind  it. 

Rehearsal,  Act  V,  Scene  i.  "  Bayes  and  the  two  Gentlemen." 
(Outer  scene.)  The  location  of  the  scene  is  not  marked,  and 
it  is  plainly  on  the  outer  stage.  After  a  very  pompous  speech 
by  Bayes  to  the  other  gentlemen  on  the  great  scene  he  is 
going  to  present  (Scene  2),  "The  Curtain  is  drawn  up,  and 
the  two  usurping  Kings  appear  in  State,  with  the  four 
Cardinals,  "  etc.     (Inner  scene.) 

Soldier's  Fortune,  Act  IV.  During  the  act  the  "Scene 
changes  to  Covent-Garden  Piazza.  Enter  Silvia  and  her 
Maid  in  the  Balcony"  Presently  Courtine  appears  below 
and  attempts  to  climb  up  to  them.  As  he  is  swinging  in 
mid-air,  "Enter  Fourbin  and  Bloody-Bones,  as  from  Sir 
Davy  Dunce's  House,"  shouting  "Murder,  Murder,  Murder!" 
Courtine  scrambles  up  into  the  balcony,  and  the  men  hasten 
on  at  the  sound  of  Sir  Davy's  approach.  Dunce  knocks  at  his 
door  and  enters,  after  which  the  "  Scene  opens  in  the  middle 
of  the  House,  and  discovers  Sir  Jolly  Jumble  and  the  Lady 
putting  Captain  Beaugard  in  order,  as  if  he  were  dead. " 

Love  Triumphant,  Act  V,  Scene  i.  "Lopez's  House." 
(Outer  scene.)  At  the  close  of  this  comparatively  brief  scene 
(Scene  2),  "A  Royal  Chamber  is  discover'd,  by  drawing  the 


90  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

former  Scene."  (Inner  scene.)  In  this,  as  well  as  in  the 
preceding  illustration,  it  seems  very  probable  that  the  first 
scenes  were  mainly  outer  scenes  with  "flats"  at  or  near  the 
proscenium  arch,  which  later  drew  and  revealed  the  set  scenes. 

In  the  following  instances  the  elaborateness  of  the  second 
scenes  in  a  play  of  eleven  scenes  shows  that  over-much  time 
would  be  consumed  if  they  were  left  unprepared  until  the 
first  scenes  closed,  and  also  that  they  occupy  too  large  a  space 
to  divide  the  inner  stage  with  the  first  scenes.  All  things 
considered,  there  can  be  little  question  but  that  the  first 
scenes  were  entirely  on  the  outer  stage  with  "flats"  at  the 
proscenium  arch,  and  the  second  ones  on  the  whole  stage  with 
the  settings  on  the  inner. 

Virgin  Prophetess,  Act  I,  Scene  i.  "The  Grecian  Camp." 
The  scene  is  conversational,  and  no  properties  are  needed 
(Outer  scene.)  Scene  2.  "The  Curtain  draws,  and  dis- 
covers the  Town  of  Troy,  with  a  Magnificent  Chariot  twenty 
Foot  high,  drawn  by  two  White  Elephants,  placed  in  the 
Depth  of  the  Prospect,  between  two  Triumphal  Columns;  the 
one  bearing  the  Statue  of  Pallas,  and  the  other  that  of  Diana, 
and  fronting  the  Audience.  In  the  Chariot  are  seated  Paris 
and  Helen.  In  the  two  front  Entryes  on  each  side  of  the 
Stage,  advanced  before  the  side  Wings,  are  four  more  White 
Elephants,  bearing,  each  a  Castle  on  their  Backs,  with  a  Rich 
Canopy  over  each  Castle,  and  in  each  three  Women;  on  the 
Necks  of  all  the  Elephants  a  Negro  Guide."  (Inner  scene.) 
Act  V,  Scene  1.  "Enter  Cassandra."  The  locality  of  the 
scene  is  not  marked,  and  no  properties  are  needed  in  the 
action.  (Outer  scene.)  Scene  2.  "  The  Town  of  Troy  being 
four  Ranges  of  Buildings,  extending  to  the  utmost  of  the  House. 
Making  three  several  Streets,  with  each  a  several  back  Scene 
terminating  the  three  Prospects.  These  Streets  are  seen 
through  three  Gates,  Archt  nineteen  Foot  high,  with  Perculices, 
Battlements,  and  Urns.  The  other  Buildings  twenty-six- 
Foot  high,  some  with  Rails,  Banisters,  and  Statues,  others 
with  Turrets,  &c.  "     (Inner  scene.) 

After  all  no  one  has  ever  seriously  doubted  that  in  the 
Restoration  the  regular  settings  were  on  the  inner  stage,  and 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  RESTORATION  STAGING  91 

were  discovered  by  drawing  the  curtains  or  "  flats. "  The  stage 
directions  are  too  explicit  and  the  general  conditions  of  the 
staging  of  this  period  too  well  known  for  the  fact  to  be  ques- 
tioned. The  method  used  in  changing  the  settings,  however, 
seems  to  be  largely  forgotten,  and  for  this  reason  it  has  been 
necessary  to  illustrate  it  by  the  previous  quotations.  Further 
proof  of  this  practice  will  be  found  in  almost  all  the  illustra- 
tions given  in  support  of  the  other  principles. 

II.       OUTER  AND  INNER  STAGES  BECOME  ONE 

When  the  "flats"  were  closed,  the  space  before  them  was 
a  distinct  stage  in  itself;  when  the  "flats"  were  drawn,  the 
outer  and  inner  stages  became  one  and  the  action  took  place 
over  any  part  of  the  two.  This  principle,  likewise,  is  already 
familiar  to  us  from  the  presentation  of  The  Outlaw's  Christmas, 
and  its  successful  use  there  shows  clearly  that  it  is  an  actual 
working  law  on  an  outer-inner  stage  and  not  a  theoretical 
one. 

In  the  picture  in  Plate  10  may  be  plainly  seen  two  stages, 
an  outer  and  an  inner.  The  simple  presence  of  this  outer  stage 
with  its  own  entrances  and  exits  is  almost  sufficient  proof  in 
itself  that  it  was  a  complete  stage  when  the  curtains  or  "  flats  " 
at  the  proscenium  arch  were  closed.  That  it  had  its  own 
scenes  is  evident  from  the  situations  in  the  Rehearsal,  Act  V, 
Scenes  1,2;  Author's  Farce,  Act,  III,  Scenes  1,2,3,4;  Historical 
Register,  Act  I,  Scenes  i,  2  and  Act  II,  Scenes  1,  2,  3,  4;  and 
many  similar  ones  to  be  given  later. 

The  union  of  the  outer  and  inner  stages  when  the  "flats" 
at  the  proscenium  arch  were  drawn  may  be  shown  by  situations 
in  which  the  proscenium  doors  or  balcony  windows  were  used 
in  connection  with  the  set  or  inner  stage : 

The  Maiden  Queen,  V,  "The  Court."  Inner  scene.  The 
Queen  and  other  ladies  are  present.  In  course  of  the  action, 
"  Enter  at  one  Door  Lysimantes,  at  the  other  Philocles, 
Celadon,  Candiope, "  etc.  If  these  were,  as  they  seem  most 
likely  to  have  been,  the  proscenium  doors,  the  entrances  to 
the  outer  stage  became  entrances  to  the  inner,  and  therefore 


92  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

the  two  stages  must  have  been  considered  as  one, — in  this 
case  a  royal  chamber  in  the  court. 

Friendship  in  Fashion,  IV,  i.  "  Night- Garden.  Enter 
Good  vile  at  one  Door;  Mrs.  Good  vile,  and  Lettice  following 
her  at  the  other. "  Again  the  proscenium  doors  were  used  as 
entrances  to  the  inner  stage,  which  shows  that  the  whole 
platform  constituted  the  scene. 

Love  in  a  Nunnery,  II,  3.  "A  Night-piece  of  a  Garden." 
Here  the  lovers  are  enjoying  a  quiet  stolen  hour,  when  ap- 
proaching footsteps  are  heard.  The  women  exeunt,  and  pre- 
sently appear  in  one  of  the  balcony  windows.  When  Mario 
and  his  servants  rush  into  the  garden,  Laura  and  Violetta 
call  to  him  from  the  balcony  for  help ;  and  as  he  is  about  their 
rescue,  Aurelian  and  Camillo  make  good  their  escape.  The 
balcony  windows  were  just  over  the  proscenium  doors  and 
consequently  on  the  outer  stage;  therefore,  their  use  in  con- 
nection with  a  set  scene  would  indicate  that  no  line  of  division 
was  drawn  between  the  two  stages  in  such  a  situation. 

Soldier's  Fortune,  Act  IV,  Scene  i.  "The  Scene  opens  in 
the  middle  of  the  House,  and  discovers  Sir  Jolly  Jumble  and  the 
Lady  putting  Captain  Beaugard  in  order,  as  if  he  were  dead. " 
Sir  Davy  is  sent  off  to  pray  for  the  life  of  Beaugard,  while  his 
wife  uses  other  means  to  restore  him.  Somehow  the  old 
cuckold  fears  his  prayers  are  not  very  effective,  and  by  and 
by  comes  to  the  balcony  window  to  inquire  if  there  are  yet 
any  signs  of  life  in  the  man ;  his  wife  assures  him  there  are  good 
hopes,  and  Sir  Davy  returns  to  his  devotions. 

Sir  Martin  Mar-All,  Act  V,  Scene  i.  The  scene  is  a  large 
open  court  on  which  most  of  the  action  in  the  play  takes  place. 
As  one  incident  in  the  scene,  Sir  Martin  is  to  prove  to  the  ladies 
that  he  has  musical  ability.  Millisent  and  Rose  take  their 
places  in  one  of  the  balcony  windows,  and  "  Sir  Martin  appears 
at  the  adverse  Window. "  It  has  been  previously  arranged  for 
Warner  to  play  and  sing  behind  the  balcony  curtain,  while 
Mar-All  with  lute  in  hand  gives  the  proper  appearance  of 
doing  the  work  himself.  "  A  Tune  [is]  play'd ;  when  it  is  done, 
Warner  rings,  and  Sir  Martin  holds";  but  at  the  end  of  the 
second  song,  "  Sir  Martin  continues  fumbling  and  gazing  on 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  RESTORATION  STAGING  93 

his  Mistress,"  and  the  women  across  the  way  fall  a-laughing 
at  him.  Just  at  this  point  John  rushes  into  the  court  for 
protection  from  his  pursuers,  and  Sir  Martin,  always  sure  to 
do  the  wrong  thing  at  the  right  time,  thinking  to  regain  his 
lost  favor  with  the  ladies,  promptly  descends  and  beats  off 
the  officers.  It  is  clear  here  that  the  whole  stage  including  the 
proscenium  doors  and  balcony  windows  made  up  the  scene. 

As  this  discussion  shows,  the  proscenium  doors  were  used 
as  entrances  to  the  whole  stage  as  well  as  to  the  outer  part. 
When  the  curtains  were  drawn,  they  served  as  a  means  of 
access  to  the  room,  church,  or  whatever  place  the  scene  repre- 
sented; when  the  curtains  or  "flats"  were  shut,  perhaps  one 
of  the  doors  closed  represented  an  entrance  to  a  house,  and 
the  other  open  a  street  way.  Satirical  remarks,  such  as  the 
following,  on  these  time-honored  fixtures,  when  their  day  was 
all  but  over,  show  the  part  they  played  in  the  action.  "  What- 
ever be  the  performance,  and  whoever  be  the  personages,  they 
all  either  walk  in  and  out  at  the  permanent  doors  which  form 
part  of  the  proscenium,  or  they  slide  in  and  out  between  the 
intervals  of  the  wings."1  "That  ligneous  barricade  which 
.  .  .  now  serves  as  the  entrance  of  the  lowly  cottage,  and 
now  as  the  exit  of  a  lady's  bedchamber."1  "The  two  stage 
doors  .  .  .  that  served  for  palace,  cottage,  street,  or 
hall,  used  for  each  place,  and  out  of  place  in  all. " 1 

In  conclusion :  It  has  already  been  noticed  that  the  regular 
settings  were  always  placed  on  the  inner  stage.  With  this 
arrangement  it  would  simply  be  impossible  for  the  outer  stage 
to  be  otherwise  than  a  part  of  the  inner  when  the  "flats" 
were  drawn.  Moreover,  a  number  of  situations  will  be  pointed 
out  in  the  following  section  in  which  characters  were  left  on 
the  stage  when  the  "flats"  closed,  which  would  show  that  the 
characters  were  previously  acting  before  the  proscenium  arch. 
All  things  considered — the  size  and  arrangement  of  the  two 
stages,  the  situations  in  the  plays,  and  the  observance  of  this 
principle  in  practice  in  The  Outlaw's  Christmas — ,  there  can  be 

i  Quoted  from  W.  J.  Lawrence,  A  Forgotten  Stage  Conventionality, 
Anglia,  vol.  xxvi.,  pp.  259-60. 


94  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

little  question  about  the  use  of  the  outer  stage  for  certain 
scenes,  and  the  outer  and  inner  combined  for  others. 


III.      THE  CONTINUOUS  ACT 

A  Restoration  play  frequently  contains  from  ten  to  twenty 
scenes.  If  in  the  performance  of  such  a  drama  ten  or  twelve 
minutes  were  lost  between  each  scene  in  rearranging  the 
setting,  the  life  of  the  play  would  be  killed  and  the  length  of  the 
performance  would  be  extended  beyond  all  endurance.  To 
avoid  this  difficulty  the  scenes  in  each  act  were  so  written  and 
so  staged  that  one  could  follow  another  almost  immediately; 
that  is,  so  that  the  action  in  an  act  could  be  virtually 
continuous  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  There  were  various 
ways  of  securing  this  continuity  of  action  through  whatever 
number  of  scenes  the  act  might  contain,  but  the  only  one 
which  need  concern  us  here — in  a  study  of  surviving  Eliza- 
bethan  conditions — is   the   alternation   of  outer   and   inner 


"  Most  of  the  other  ways  of  securing  the  continuous  act  in  the 
Restoration  grew  out  of  the  use  of  painted  scenery, — a  feature  des- 
tined to  revolutionize  the  whole  system  of  staging.  A  few  ways 
may  be  mentioned.  A  change  of  outer  scenes  was  marked  by  a  change 
of  "flats"  at  the  proscenium  arch.  Similarly  a  change  of  like- 
propertied  inner  scenes  was  occasionally  affected  by  nothing  more 
than  a  change  of  back  "flats."  Perhaps  the  most  interesting  and 
complicated  way  of  avoiding  delays  between  the  scenes  was  the  use  of 
varying  portions  of  the  inner  stage  with  the  outer.  This  was  done  by 
the  opening  and  the  closing  of  "flats"  at  different  distances  from  the 
rear  of  the  inner  stage.  For  example,  in  a  succession  of  room  scenes 
the  first  occupied  the  whole  stage,  the  second  the  outer  and  a  small  part 
of  the  inner,  the  third  the  outer  and  still  more  of  the  inner,  the  fourth 
the  outer  and  a  small  part  of  the  inner,  the  fifth  the  outer  and  all  the 
inner,  and  so  on.  Any  number  of  combinations  could  be  used,  and 
each  one  would  give  the  appearance  of  a  new  scene  without  any  loss 
of  time  in  setting  and  resetting  the  stage.  Some  rearrangement  of  the 
setting  behind  the  "flats"  usually  look  place  while  the  scene  was 
playing  before  them.  This  was  a  kind  of  alternation.  It  was  ap- 
plicable, however,  only  where  the  scenes  were  all  of  one  class,  as  room 
scenes  or  forest  scenes. 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  RESTORATION  STAGING  95 

Alternation  of  scenes 

A  very  common  method  for  keeping  the  action  continuous 
throughout  an  act  was  the  alternation  of  inner  and  outer 
scenes.  This  is  perhaps  the  most  noticeable  feature  of  Restor- 
ation staging.  The  dozen  or  more  scenes  in  a  play  usually 
fall  into  two  classes, — one  requiring  properties  and  the  other 
not;  and  the  inner  or  propertied  and  the  outer  or  unpropertied 
frequently  occur  in  an  alternating  series.  These  two  kinds 
of  scenes  we  have  already  observed  in  The  Outlaw's  Christmas; 
and  the  reason  for  such  a  division  was  very  obvious  in  the 
performance  of  that  play.  While  an  unpropertied  scene  was 
being  played  before  the  "drop, "  a  propertied  scene  was  being 
set  behind  it;  and  in  this  way  the  locality  changed,  but  the 
action  was  not  delayed  for  a  moment.  The  outer  scene  was 
no  less  important  than  the  inner,  but  it  was  so  written  that  it 
could  be  played  before  the  "drop"  without  properties.  And 
so  were  certain  scenes  written  and  played  in  the  Restoration. 

In  the  outline  already  given  of  the  scenes  in  The  Fate  of 
Capua  the  alternation  of  outer  and  inner  scenes  may  be  seen 
throughout  an  entire  play.  A  summary  of  the  scenes  in  this 
drama  would  be  as  follows:  Act  I.  Inner — outer — inner. 
Act.  II.  Inner — outer  and  part  inner — inner.  Act  III.  Inner 
— outer — inner — outer  and  part  inner — inner.  Act  IV.  Inner 
— outer  and  part  inner — inner — outer  and  part  inner — inner — • 
outer.  Act  V.  Inner — outer  and  part  inner — inner.  In  this 
way — and  this  way  only — the  nineteen  scenes  run  through 
smoothly  and  rapidly  in  the  "two  hours  traffic  of  the  stage." 

As  the  proving  of  this  principle  by  outlining  full  plays  is 
very  cumbersome,  and  brings  in  too  many  questions  outside 
of  the  point  at  issue,  we  must  confine  ourselves  to  single 
acts. 

Mithridates,  Act,  I  Scene  i.  "The  Outer  part  of  the 
Temple  of  the  Sun."  No  properties  mentioned  or  needed  in 
the  action — outer  scene.  Scene  2.  "The  Scene  draws,  dis- 
covering the  Inner  Part  of  the  Temple,"  etc.  Properties 
used  in  the  action — inner  scene.  In  this  act  it  is  evident 
that  the  first  scene  was  played  on  the  outer  stage ;  and  at  its 


96  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

close,  the  "  flats  "  drew,  revealing  the  setting  on  the  inner  stage, 
and  the  action  resumed  at  once  over  any  part  of  the  platform. 

Venice  Preserved,  Act  IV,  Scene  i.  "Enter  Jaffeir  and 
Belvidera."  Locality  unmarked — no  properties  mentioned 
or  needed — outer  scene.  The  two  are  on  their  way  to  the 
Senate  where  Jaffeir  is  to  confess  the  plot.  Scene  2.  "The 
Senate-House.  Where  appear  sitting,  the  Duke  of  Venice, 
Priuli,  Antonio,  and  Eight  other  Senators. "  Properties  used — 
inner  scene.  The  first  scene  is  purely  conversational  and  the 
outer  stage  is  sufficient,  but  the  second  scene  requires  a  setting 
and  both  stages  are  needed.  By  drawing  the  "flats"  at  the 
opening  of  the  senate  scene,  the  dreaded  assembly  is  at  once 
before  us  and  no  interest  in  the  action  is  lost  through  a  long 
delay. 

Don  Carlos,  Act  V,  Scene  i  .  "  Enter  King  solus. "  Local- 
ity unmarked — no  properties  mentioned  or  needed — outer 
scene.  Scene  2.  "The  Scene  draws  and  discovers  the  Queen 
alone  in  Mourning  on  her  Couch,  with  a  Lamp  by  her. "  Prop- 
erties used — inner  scene.  At  the  close  of  Scene  1,  the 
"flats"  drew  and  the  whole  stage  became  the  Queen's  apart- 
ment. 

Wild  Gallant,  Act  I,  Scene  i.  Burr's  room.  Properties 
used — inner  scene.  Scene  2.  A  street.  No  properties  men- 
tioned or  needed — outer  scene.  Scene  3.  "Trice  is  dis- 
covered playing  at  Tables  by  himself,"  etc.  Properties 
used — inner  scene. 

Loyal  Brother,  Act  IV,  Scene  i.  "  Enter  Ismael,  Sunamire, 
and  Arbanes. "  Locality  unmarked — no  properties  men- 
tioned or  needed — outer  scene.  Scene  2.  "  Semanthe,  melan- 
choly in  her  Apartment. "     Properties  used — inner  scene. 

Cambyses,  Act  V,  Scene  i.  "The  Scene  drawn,  Cambyses 
is  discovered  seated  in  a  Chair  sleeping, "  etc.  Properties 
used — inner  scene.  Scene  2.  "The  Palace."  No  properties 
mentioned  or  needed  in  the  action — outer  scene.  Scene  3. 
"  The  Scene  open'd  appears  a  Temple  of  the  Sun,  "  etc.  Prop- 
erties used —  inner  scene.  During  the  playing  of  the  second 
scene  the  setting  for  the  first  was  removed  and  another  placed 
for  the  last. 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  RESTORATION  STAGING  97 

Fatal  Marriage,  Act.  I,  Scene  i.  "The  Street."  No 
properties  mentioned  or  needed  in  the  action — outer  scene. 
Scene  2.  "  Fernando's  House."  Properties  used — inner 
scene.  Scene  3.  "The  Street."  No  properties  mentioned 
or  needed  in  the  action — outer  scene.  Act  V,  Scene  1.  "  En- 
ter Biron,  Nurse  following  her."  No  properties  mentioned 
in  the  text  or  needed  in  the  action — outer  scene.  Scene  2. 
"  Scene  drawn,  shews  Biron  asleep  on  a  Couch. "  Properties 
used — inner  scene.  Scene  3.  "Scene  changes  to  a  street." 
No  properties  mentioned  in  the  text  or  needed  in  the  action — 
outer  scene.  Scene  4.  "  Scene  changes  to  the  inside  of  the 
house."  A  chair  needed  in  the  action — outer  scene  and  part 
inner.  Scene  5.  " Scene  opened,  shews  Pedro  on  a  rack." 
Properties  used — inner  scene. 

She  Would  if  She  Could,  Act  III,  Scene  i.  "The  New- 
Exchange.  Mistress  Trincket  sitting  in  a  Shop.  People  passing 
by  as  in  the  Exchange."  Properties  used — inner  scene. 
Scene  2.  "  Sir  Oliver's  Dining- Room.  Enter  Sir  Joslin  and 
Servant  severally. "  No  properties  mentioned  in  the  text  or 
needed  in  the  action.  This  heading  is  similar  to  that  in 
The  Outlaw's  Christmas,  I,  2.  Scene  3.  "The  Bear." 
Properties  used — inner  scene.  During  the  second  scene 
on  the  outer  stage,  the  shop  setting  was  cleared  away  and 
chairs,  tables,  etc.,  brought  on  for  the  lobby  in  the  inn. 

Love  and  Revenge,  Act  IV,  Scene  i.  "Enter  Nigrello. " 
Locality  unmarked — no  properties  mentioned  in  the  text  or 
needed  in  the  action — outer  scene.  Scene  2.  "  A  Room  of 
State. "  Properties  used — inner  scene.  Scene  3.  "  A  Grotto. 
Enter  Lewis,  Brisac,  Souldiers  with  a  Page  carrying  a  dark 
Lanthorn. "  No  properties  mentioned  in  the  text  or  needed 
in  the  action — outer  scene.  Scene  4.  "The  Scene  open'd; 
Claramount  and  Fredigond  are  discover'd  together. "  Proper- 
ties used — inner  scene. 

Empress  of  Morocco,  Act  IV,  Scene  i.  "Enter  King, 
Attended."  No  properties  are  mentioned  in  the  text  or 
needed  in  the  action — outer  scene.  Scene  2.  "The  Scene 
open'd,  is  presented  a  Prospect  of  a  Clouded  Sky,  with  a  Rain- 
bow.    After  a  Shower  of  Hail,  Enter  from  within  the  Scenes, 


98  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

Muly  Hamet  and  Abelcador.  "  Properties  used — inner  scene. 
The  list  of  illustrations  showing  the  alternation  of  outer 
and  inner  scenes  could  be  extended  indefinitely,  but  these 
few  must  suffice.  In  truth,  any  one  familiar  with  the  Restora- 
tion drama  will  realize  that  an  effort  to  prove  the  alternation  of 
outer  and  inner  scenes  in  the  plays  of  this  period  by  a  handful 
of  quotations  is  like  attempting  to  establish  the  Law  of  Gravi- 
tation by  a  few  examples.  It  is  an  ever-present  and  all-im- 
portant principle.  Without  the  alternation  of  propertied  and 
unpropertied  scenes  the  proper  staging  of  Restoration  plays 
would  simply  be  impossible. 

4       •       SPECIAL  FEATURES  OF  RESTORATION  STAGING 

Closely  connected  with  these  three  principles  of  Restoration 
staging  are  several  special  features  obtaining  in  the  writing 
and  stage  presentation  of  plays  of  this  period,  which  should  be 
noticed  for  the  light  they  throw  on  similar  conditions  in  the 
Elizabethan  drama. 

A .     Scenes  change  with  characters  on  the  stage 

There  are  many  instances  in  the  plays  from  1660  to  1700 
where  the  scene  changes  from  one  locality  to  another  with 
characters  on  the  stage.  Perhaps  the  scene  is  being  acted 
on  the  outer  stage  as  in  a  street  or  some  unlocated  place; 
at  the  proper  moment  the  curtains  or  "  flats  "  draw,  revealing 
a  certain  setting  which  gives  the  whole  stage  the  appearance 
of  a  new  scene,  and  the  characters  in  action,  magic  like,  find 
themselves  in  a  different  locality. 

An  Evening's  Love,  Act  IV,  Scene  i.  The  scene  is  unlocated 
but  presumably  a  street,  as  Maskal  waits  here  to  give  Don 
Melchor  orders  as  he  passes  to  meet  Aurelia  in  the  Garden. 
After  several  incidents  have  taken  place  and  all  the  characters 
but  Wildblood  have  passed  off  the  stage  (Scene  2),  "  The  Scene 
opens  and  discovers  Aurelia  and  Camilla;  behind  them  a  Table 
and  Lights  set  on  it.  The  Scene  is  a  Garden  with  an  Arbour 
in  it.     The  Garden  door  opens."     Wildblood,  after  a  short 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  RESTORATION  STAGING  99 

soliloquy,  passes  out,  and  Melchor  enters.  A  hysterical  scene 
in  the  garden  follows,  at  the  close  of  which  Aurelia  "  runs  out 
shrieking,"  and  Camilla,  who  has  been  hid  under  the  table, 
"rises  up,  overthrows  the  Table  and  Lights,  and  runs  out. 
The  Scene  shuts. "  Scene  3.  The  Don  is  left  alone  before  the 
"  fiats. "  Other  characters  enter  to  him  and  the  scene  is  again 
a  public  place  as  before.  The  first  scene  needs  no  properties, 
and  the  action  is  on  the  outer  stage  before  the  "  flats. "  It 
represents  a  street  or  some  public  walk,  and  the  characters 
meet,  greet  each  other,  and  pass  freely  in  and  out  the  pro- 
scenium doors.  Suddenly  the  "flats"  draw,  and  the  whole 
platform  becomes  a  garden  by  the  illusion  of  the  properties 
on  the  inner  stage.  In  time  the  "  Scene  shuts, "  and  the  action 
continues  on  the  outer  stage  as  in  some  general  passage  way. 
Characters  are  on  the  stage  all  the  while.  In  the  first  change 
Wildblood  finds  himself  suddenly  transported  from  a  pub- 
lic place  to  a  garden;  and  in  the  second  change,  Melchor 
passes  without  taking  a  step  from  a  garden  to  a  street. 
Tyrannic  Love,  Act  V,  Scene  1.  The  characters  enter  "  at 
one  Door"  and  " at  the  other,"  and  no  mention  is  made  of  the 
locality.  Maximus,  being  unable  to  persuade  St.  Katherine 
to  his  wishes,  orders  them  to  "  draw  then  that  Curtain,  and  let 
Death  appear. "  Scene  2.  "  The  Scene  opens,  and  shews  the 
Wheel. "  Felicia  and  her  daughter  are  about  to  be  bound  to 
this  instrument  of  death  when  "  Amariel  descends  swiftly  with 
a  flaming  Sword,  and  strikes  at  the  Wheel,  which  breaks  in 
pieces;  then  he  ascends  again."  Shortly  after  this  "The 
Scene  shuts, "  and  (Scene  3)  Maximus  and  Placidus  are  left  on 
the  outer  stage.  Valerius  enters  to  them  with  the  news  that 
"the  Princess  and  her  Mother  are  no  more."  The  King  is  so 
enraged  that  he  kills  the  messenger,  and  "  spurns  the  body. " 
Scene  4.  "  Here  the  Scene  opens,  and  discovers  Bernice  on  a 
Scaffold,  the  Guards  by  her,  and  amongst  them  Porphyrius 
and  Albinus,  like  Moors,  as  all  the  Guards  are  " ;  and  the  play 
concludes  with  this  setting.  In  this  act  there  are  four  scenes — 
outer,  inner,  outer,  inner — all  following  each  other  without  a 
moment's  loss  of  time.  Characters  are  on  the  stage  all  the 
time;    now  nowhere    in   particular,  and  now  in  a   room  of 


100  THE  SHAKSPEBIAN  STAGE 

torture ;  again  without  location,  and  finally  in  a  place  of  execu- 
tion. 

Duke  of  Guise,  Act  V,  Scene  i.  "The  Castle  of  Bloise." 
Shortly  after  the  scene  opens,  "  Enter  Deputies  of  the  Three 
States:  Cardinal  of  Guise,  and  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  at  the 
Head  of  'em. "  No  conclusion  can  be  reached  for  the  Suc- 
cession, and  "  Exeunt  Omnes,  but  the  King. "  Here  the 
"  flats  "  must  have  closed,  leaving  the  one  remaining  character 
alone  on  the  outer  stage.  Scene  2.  Grillon  enters  to  the  King, 
reveals  his  plot  to  kill  the  Duke  of  Guise,  and  the  two  "exeunt 
severally."  Scene  3.  "The  Scene  opens,  and  discovers 
Men  and  Women  at  a  Banquet,  Malicorne  standing  by. " 
Song  and  dialogue  follow,  after  which  the  "  Scene  closes  upon 
the  Company, "  and  Malicorne  is  left  alone  before  the  "  flats.  " 
Scene  4.  Melanax  enters  to  him  and  claims  his  soul,  and  the 
scene  ends  in  their  sinking  together.  Scene  5.  A  room  in  the 
Court.  Scene  6.  "Before  the  Council-Hall."  Scene  7. 
"The  Scene  draws,  behind  it  a  Traverse.  The  Guise  is 
assaulted  by  Eight."  Scene  8.  "The  Traverse  is  drawn. 
The  King  rises  from  his  Chair,  comes  forward  with  his  Cabinet 
Council. "  During  this  one  act — and  the  play  has  five — eight 
successive  scenes  are  presented.  As  I  have  indicated  through- 
out the  illustration,  the  propertied  and  unpropertied  scenes 
alternate  with  each  other, — inner,  outer,  inner,  outer,  inner, 
outer,  outer  and  part  inner,  inner.  In  the  change  from  Scene 
3  to  4  and  7  to  8,  characters  are  on  the  stage,  and  are  supposed 
to  change  their  location  though  they  do  not  necessarily  change 
their  position  on  the  stage. 

B.     "  Flats  "  used  as  doors 

Another  feature  of  Restoration  staging,  which  is  very  strange 
in  itself  and  perhaps  entirely  forgotten  to-day,  is  the  use  of  the 
"  flats  "  as  doors  to  a  house  or  room. 

Evening's  Love,  V,  1.  The  scene  is  a  garden  with  a  house 
in  the  rear.  Don  Alonzo  has  lost  his  nieces,  and  enters  the 
garden  in  a  rage  with  "  six  Servants,  with  Lights,  and  Swords 
drawn."     He  insists  on  searching  the  house,  and  Bellany, 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  RESTORATION  STAGING  101 

being  unable  to  dissuade  him,  finally  orders  his  servant  to 
"open  the  Door."  "  Maskal  goes  to  one  side  of  the  Scene, 
which  draws  and  discovers  Theo[dosia],  Jac[intha],  Aur[elia], 
Beatfrix],  Cam[illa],  Lop[ez],  Wild[blood],  standing  all  without 
motion  in  a  rank. "  After  the  old  Uncle  has  satisfied  him- 
self of  all  within,  Bellany  says,  "  Now  come  away,  Sir.  .  .  . 
Maskal,  shut  the  Door. "  "  Maskal  goes  to  the  Scene,  and  it 
closes. " 

Soldier's  Fortune,  V,  i.  Sir  Davy  Dunce  shouts  to  his  men, 
"  Break  down  that  Door,  I  '11  have  that  Door  broke  open, 
break  down  that  Door,  I  say. "  .  .  .  "  Scene  draws  and 
discovers  Beaugard  and  Lady  Dunce. " 

Fatal  Marriage,  V,  5.  "Fred.  What  cries  are  those? 
Vil.  Open  that  Door. "  "  Scene  open'd,  shews  Pedro  on  a 
Rack. " 

Duke  of  Guise,  III,  1.  The  scene  is  an  open  court  by  the 
palace.  The  populace  pass  on  and  only  Grillon  is  left  on  the 
scene.  In  the  midst  of  a  soliloquy,  he  remarks,  "  the  Presence 
opens  " ;  the  scene  from  this  on  is  a  room  in  the  palace  with 
the  King  and  other  members  of  the  court  present. 

Love  for  Love,  IV,  5.  "  Valentine's  Lodging.  "  In  response 
to  an  inquiry  for  Scandal,  Jeremy  says,  "  Mr.  Scandal  is  with 
him,  Sir;  I  '11  knock  at  the  Door.  "  "  Goes  to  the  Scene  which 
opens. "  Scene  6.  "  Sir  Sampson,  Valentine,  Scandal, 
Jeremy,  and  Lawyer.  (Valentine  upon  a  Couch  disorderly 
dress'd.) " 

We  have  now  passed  in  review  three  principles  and  two 
special  features  of  Restoration  staging,  and,  in  conclusion,  we 
may  summarize  them.  Principles:  1.  The  properties  of  a 
regular  setting  were  located  on  the  inner  stage,  and  changed 
for  a  new  scene  either  during  an  act-division  or  during  the 
playing  of  a  scene  on  the  outer  stage.  2.  When  the  "  flats  " 
were  closed,  the  space  before  them  was  a  distinct  stage  in  itself; 
when  the  "flats"  were  drawn,  the  outer  and  inner  stages 
became  one  and  the  action  took  place  over  any  part  of  the  two. 
3.  The  action  in  an  act,  regardless  of  the  number  of  scenes, 
was  virtually  continuous  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.    One 


102  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

method  of  securing  this  continuity  of  action  was  the  alterna- 
tion of  outer  and  inner  scenes.  Special  features:  i.  The 
scenes  were  occasionally  changed  with  characters  on  the  stage. 
2.     The  "  flats  "  were  sometimes  used  as  doors. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  SHAKSPERIAN  METHOD  OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION 

After  a  brief  study  of  Restoration  staging,  we  find  our- 
selves on  familiar  ground  on  turning  to  the  Elizabethan.  In 
Chapter  III  it  was  pointed  out  that  with  the  exception  of  the 
gallery  the  stage  of  Dryden  contained  the  same  number  and 
arrangement  of  parts  as  that  of  Shakspere.  The  stage  after 
1660  recieved  some  important  additions,  such  as  the  "art  of 
perspective  in  scenes, "  which  tended  to  change  the  relative 
importance  and  size  of  the  two  parts  of  the  platform ;  but  it 
was  still  an  outer-inner  stage.  In  Chapter  IV  certain  laws 
obtaining  in  the  writing  and  performance  of  Restoration 
plays  were  shown, — laws  especially  adapted  to  the  double 
form  of  stage.  These  principles  certainly  did  not  come  from 
France  with  its  picture-frame  stage,  and  they  were  too  firmly 
established  at  the  outset  to  have  had  no  earlier  history.  Does 
it  not  seem  probable  that  they  were  simply  a  continuation, 
in  a  slightly  modified  form,  of  laws  already  established  on  the 
Elizabethan  outer-inner  stage? 

Indeed  we  have  substantial  and  well-developed  germs  of 
this  system  in  the  old  religious  drama.  In  the  miracles  and 
moralities  there  were  a  number  of  propertied  and  unpropertied 
scenes  given  on  and  between  the  scaffolds,  and  the  action 
passed  rapidly  from  one  scene  to  another.  The  interludes, 
being  confined^  to  one  platform  without  a  curtain  to  conceal 
the  change  of  properties,  limited  themselves  to  one  setting 
for  each  production.  Comparing  this  custom  with  Restoration 
conditions,  we  find  the  old  division  of  scenes,  propertied 
and  unpropertied,  and  the  action  continuous,  at  least  through- 
out the  act;  and  also  a  stage  which  might  be  called  a  folded 
103 


104  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

form  of  the  stage  upon  which  Mary  Magdalene  was  performed, 
so  arranged  as  to  accommodate  the  two  classes  of  scenes  with- 
out delaying  the  action.  Is  it  not,  therefore,  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  the  old  system  was  early  adapted  to  the  permanent 
stage,  and  continued  without  serious  change  throughout  the 
seventeenth  century? 

All  these,  however,  are  but  strong  antecedent  probabilities, 
and  the  principles  of  Shaksperian  staging  remain  to  be  estab- 
lished by  evidences  in  the  Elizabethan  drama.  We  shall  begin 
this  study,  as  we  did  that  of  the  Restoration,  by  giving  an 
outline  of  the  scenes  in  a  complete  play.  Since  the  principles 
are  concerned  mainly  with  the  parts  of  the  lower  stage, — 
outer  and  inner  stages,  curtain  and  proscenium  doors,  we 
need  only  substitute  the  word  "curtain"  for  "flats"  and  the 
previous  nomenclature  will  suffice. 

Merchant  of  Venice,  Act  I,  Scene  i.  A  street.  Outer  scene. 
The  meeting  of  the  Venetians;  Bassanio  reveals  his  secret  need 
to  Antonio.  The  action  before  the  closed  curtains  without 
properties.  Scene  2.  A  room  in  Portia's  house.  Inner 
scene.  Portia  and  Nerissa  talking  over  the  various  suitors. 
The  curtains  drawn  and  the  action  on  both  stages  with  room 
properties  on  the  inner.  Scene  3.  A  street.  Outer  scene 
The  Jew  and  Bassanio  meet  and  a  loan  is  effected.  The 
action  before  the  closed  curtains  without  properties. 

Act  II,  Scene  i.  A  room  in  Portia's  house.  Inner  scene. 
Morocco's  first  meeting  with  Portia.  The  curtains  drawn  and 
the  action  on  both  stages  with  room  properties  on  the  inner. 
Scene  2.  A  street.  Outer  scene.  Launcelot  meets  his  father, 
old  Gobo.  The  action  before  the  closed  curtains  without 
properties.  Scene  3.  A  room  in  Shylock's  house.  Inner 
scene.  The  Clown  taking  his  leave  of  Jessica.  The  curtains 
drawn  and  the  action  on  both  stages  with  room  properties 
on  the  inner.  Scene  4.  A  street.  Outer  scene.  Launcelot 
meets  Lorenzo  and  delivers  Jessica's  letter.  The  action  before 
the  closed  curtains  without  properties.  Scene  5.  Before 
Shylock's  house.  Outer  scene.  Shylock  leaving  for  the 
banquet.  The  action  before  the  closed  curtains  without 
properties;  one  door  closed  as  an  entrance  to  Shylock's  house. 


METHOD  OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION  105 

Scene  6.  Same  as  Scene  5  except  that  the  balcony  window  over 
the  closed  door  is  used.  Outer  scene.  Jessica  throws  down 
the  bags  of  gold  to  Lorenzo  and  later  steals  away  with  him. 
Scene  7.  A  room  in  Portia's  house.  Inner  scene.  Morocco 
makes  his  choice  of  caskets.  The  curtains  drawn  and  the 
action  on  both  stages  with  room  properties  on  the  inner. 
Scene  8.  A  street.  Outer  scene.  Salanio  and  Salerino  talk- 
ing of  Shylock  and  Antonio.  The  action  before  the  closed 
curtains  without  properties.  Scene  9.  A  room  in  Portia's 
house.  Inner  scene.  Arragon  makes  his  choice  of  caskets. 
The  curtains  drawn  and  the  action  on  both  stages  with  a  room 
setting  on  the  inner. 

Act  III,  Scene  i.  A  street.  Outer  scene.  Shylock  raging 
over  his  lost  daughter  and  ducats.  The  action  before  the 
closed  curtains  without  properties.  Scene  2.  A  room  in 
Portia's  house.  Inner  scene.  Bassanio  chooses  the  right 
casket.  The  curtains  drawn  and  the  action  on  both  stages 
with  a  room  setting  on  the  inner.  Scene  3.  A  street.  Inner 
scene.  Antonio  following  Shylock  with  a  last  plea  for  mercy. 
The  action  before  the  closed  curtains  without  properties. 
Scene  4.  A  room  in  Portia's  house.  Inner  scene.  Portia  and 
Nerissa  take  their  leave  for  Venice.  The  curtains  drawn  and 
the  action  on  both  stages  with  a  room  setting  on  the  inner. 

Act  IV,  Scene  i.  A  court  of  justice.  Inner  scene.  The 
trial  of  Shylock.  The  curtains  drawn  and  the  action  on  both 
stages  with  court-room  properties  on  the  inner  and  extended 
onto  the  outer.  Scene  2.  A  street.  Outer  scene.  Gratiano 
overtakes  Portia  and  Nerissa  and  delivers  the  rings.  The 
action  before  closed  curtains  without  properties. 

Act  V,  Scene  i.  Portia's  garden.  Inner  scene.  The 
home-coming.  The  curtains  drawn  and  the  action  over  both 
stages  with  a  garden  setting  on  the  inner. 

Without  regard  to  all  the  stage  business  that  I  have  in- 
dicated in  the  outline,  it  is  noticed  that  there  are  nineteen 
scenes  in  the  play;  that  some  would  naturally  require  proper- 
ties, as  the  room  and  garden  scenes,  and  others  not,  as  street 
scenes;  that  one  act  is  not  given  up  to  one  class  of  scenes  and 
another  to  another,  but  that  there  is  an  alternation  between 


10G  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

the  propertied  and  the  unpropertied.  In  short,  there  is  here 
a  more  or  less  perfect  system,  based  on  certain  fundamental 
principles  of  Elizabethan  staging,  which  we  are  now  to  study 
in  detail.  Each  principle  will  be  taken  up  separately,  and 
illustration  given  from  the  plays  to  prove  the  same. 

I.      LOCATION  AND  CHANGE  OF  A  REGULAR  SETTING 

The  properties  of  a  regular  setting  were  located  on  the 
inner  stage  and  changed  for  a  new  scene  either  during  an 
act-division  or  during  the  playing  of  a  scene  on  the  outer  stage. 

City  Madam,  Act  I.  Scene  2  is  a  street,  as  is  shown  by  the 
frequent  remarks:  "  Do  not  shew  a  foolish  Valour  in  the  Streets 
— But  in  the  Day,  and  View  of  all  that  pass  by — I '  th'  Street 
too. "  (Outer  scene.)  But  before  the  close,  occurs  the  stage 
direction,  "A  Table,  Count-Book,  Standish,  Chairs,  and 
Stools  set  out. "  The  next  scene  is  a  counting  room  in 
Rich's  house;  "Enter  Sir  John,  Hoyst,  Fortune,  Penury, 
Goldwire."  (Inner  scene.)  Sir  John's  first  words,  as  he 
faces  his  debtors,  are,  "What  would  you  have  me  do? 
reach  me  a  Chair. "  Here  in  the  midst  of  a  street  scene  is  a 
direction  to  set  the  stage  with  a  table,  stand,  chairs,  stools, 
etc., — just  such  properties  as  are  used  in  the  next  scene,  a 
counting  room.  We  cannot  believe  that  a  manager  would 
disturb  an  important  scene  by  setting  the  stage  for  a  coming 
one.  There  is,  however,  but  one  alternative,  namely,  that 
the  properties  were  being  arranged  for  the  room  scene  on  the 
inner  stage  behind  the  closed  curtains  while  the  street  scene 
was  being  played  on  the  outer.  By  this  means  the  curtains 
could  draw  at  the  close  of  the  first  scene,  and  the  second  could 
take  place  at  once.  If  this  supposition  is  correct,  the  stage 
direction,  carelessly  retained  in  the  printed  copy,  was  intended 
only  for  the  stage  hands,  and  would,  therefore,  need  to  be  in 
the  previous  scene.  That  it  was  such  a  direction  is  supported 
by  a  later  situation  in  the  play.  In  the  first  part  of  Act  III 
there  is  the  stage  direction,  "  Musick  come  down.  "  Seventy- 
three  lines  after  that,  "  Enter  Goldwire  like  a  Justice  of  Peace, 
Ding'em  like  a  Constable,  the  Musicians  like  Watchmen.  "     It 


METHOD  OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION  107 

is  evident  here  that  the  first  direction  was  intended  only  for 
members  of  the  company,  and,  as  such,  is  perfectly  correct  in  its 
location  in  the  text.  The  musicians  came  down  at  this  point 
and  made  ready  for  their  entrance  later  as  watchmen.  So  it 
seems  that  the  stage  direction  in  the  first  instance  is  genuine 
of  its  kind,  and  that  the  setting  for  the  counting  room  was  be- 
ing prepared  on  the  inner  stage  with  the  curtains  closed  while 
the  street  scene  was  in  progress  on  the  outer. 

Bussy  d'Ambois,  Act  I.  Scene  i  represents  an  unlocated 
place,  where  Monsieur  first  meets  Bussy,  and  persuades  him  to 
go  to  the  court.  (Outer  scene.)  In  the  midst  of  the  scene  in  the 
text  is  the  stage  direction,  "  Table,  Chesbord,  &  Tapers  behind 
the  Aarras. "  There  is  no  need  of  any  furniture  in  this  scene, 
but  the  second  one  uses  these  very  properties.  It  represents  a 
room  in  the  court,  and  the  King,  Queen,  and  ladies  are  present. 
(Inner  scene.)  Here  they  are  enjoying  themselves,  some 
talking,  others  playing  chess,  when  Bussy  is  ushered  in  by 
Monsieur.  Again  we  seem  to  have  a  direction  to  the  stage 
hands  to  prepare  the  room  scene  "behind  the  Arras"  while 
the  conversational  scene  is  going  on  before  it. 

The  Cruel  Brother,  Act  III,  Scene  2.  "Enter  Lucio  and 
Foreste. "  (Outer  scene.)  The  scene  is  unlocated;  perhaps  it 
represents  a  street.  Two  men  meet,  and  after  a  short  con- 
versation pass  on.  Before  the  close  of  the  scene  in  the  text 
there  occurs  the  direction,  "Chair  at  the  Arras.  "  No  chair  is 
mentioned  in  the  lines  or  in  any  way  needed  in  this  scene  but 
the  following  one  uses  this  property.  Scene  2.  "Enter 
Luinna  and  Duarte. "  (Inner  scene.)  The  women  are  in  a 
room:  " Luin.  I  would  not  be  unmanerly,  but  if  she  be  at 
leisure,  tell  her  I  am  here.  Duart.  Please  your  Ladiship  to 
sit,  I  '11  tell  her  so.  " 

The  Cruel  Brother,  Act  V,  Scene  i.  "A  Chair  at  the  Arras. 
Enter  Foreste  solus. "  (Outer  scene.)  Foreste  makes  a  short 
soliloquy  of  nineteen  lines,  ending  with  the  words,  "The 
darkness  of  the  Night  is  troublesome.  Stay — That  sickly 
light  from  her  Chamber  comes.  Minion  I  '11  begin  with  you. " 
He  is  supposed  to  be  somewhere  without  Corsa's  chamber. 
Scene   2.     At  his  exit,   "Enter  Corsa  and  a  Boy."     (Inner 


108  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

scene.)  Presently  Foreste  enters,  and  the  boy  is  sent  out  of 
the  room.  A  passionate  dialogue  ensues,  at  the  end  of  which 
Foreste  commands  Corsa,  "Come,  stretch  down  your  arm,  and 
permit  this  Scarf  to  fasten  it  to  the  Chair."  He  cuts  her 
"wrist  veins,"  "she  bleeds  her  soul  away,"  and  he  passes 
out  leaving  her  dead  in  her  chair.  Scene  3  is  conversational 
without  any  apparent  location  or  need  of  properties  (Outer 
scene),  and  is  followed  by  a  room  scene  in  Foreste's  house. 
Scene  4.  "Enter  Foreste,  and  Servants  with  Light. "  (Inner 
scene.)  He  has  just  dismissed  the  servants  when  shouts  are 
heard  without:  "Break  ope  the  Door,  break  ope  the  Door, 
break  ope  the  Door. "...  "Enter  Lucio  and  Servants. " 
Lucio  is  in  great  excitement:  "O  my  Wife!  .  .  .  Just 
now  I  lighted  from  my  Horse,  enter'd  her  Chamber:  and  found 
her  newly  murder'd  in  her  Chair.  My  Servants  say  that  my 
arrival  there  did  just  succeed  your  departure  from  her." 
Foreste  answers,  "Dismiss  your  Servants,  and  you  shall  know 
all.  "  To  finish  the  act :  Scene  6  is  a  street  or  some  public  place 
(Outer  scene) ;  Scene  7  is  a  bed-chamber  with  the  King  lying 
abed  (Inner  scene) ;  and  Scene  8  is  at  a  door  to  a  room  (Outer 
scene).  While  no  curtains  are  mentioned  in  the  text,  they 
must  have  opened  and  closed  with  each  propertied  scene.  In 
Scene  2  there  is  no  other  way  provided  for  Corsa  to  get  off  the 
stage,  and,  more  than  this,  the  words  of  Lucio,  that  he  found 
her  in  "her  Chamber"  "newly  murdered  in  her  Chair,"  show 
that  she  was  left  sitting  where  she  died.  Therefore,  the  pur- 
pose of  the  first  stage  direction  seems  to  be  this :  as  Scene  1  was 
very  short  and  needed  no  properties,  the  inner  stage  was  set 
during  the  act-division.  At  the  close  of  the  monologue, 
which  was  on  the  outer  stage  with  a  faint  gleam  of  light  shining 
through  the  hangings,  the  curtains  drew,  and  the  properties 
were  already  arranged  on  the  rear  stage  for  the  room  scene  in 
Corsa's  house. 

■  The  Rape  of  Lucrece,  Act  V,  Scene  3.  A  battle  is  raging 
and  Horatio  (at  one  of  the  proscenium  doors)  is  valiantly 
defending  the  supposed  bridge.  (Outer  scene.)  At  the  same 
time  apparently,  the  stage  hands  are  busily  setting  the  stage 
for  a  new  scene ;  for  in  the  midst  of  Scene  3  in  the  text  is  the 


METHOD  OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION  109 

stage  direction,  "A  Table  and  Lights  in  the  Tent."  The 
next  scene  represents  a  tent  with  Porsenna  in  communica- 
tion with  his  secretary.  (Inner  scene.)  This  direction  can 
hardly  be  explained  otherwise  than  as  the  preparation  of  the 
tent  scene  behind  the  closed  curtains.  In  this  way  the  clash 
of  arms  on  the  outer  stage  would  in  no  wise  be  interrupted, 
and  the  fourth  scene  could  follow  as  soon  as  the  noise  of  battle 
died  away. 

The  Guardian,  Act  III,  Scene  7.  The  scene  is  before 
Severino's  house.  (Outer  scene.)  Scene  8.  A  room  in 
Severino's  house.  (Inner  scene.)  "Enter  Jolante  (with  a 
rich  Banquet  and  Tapers)  in  a  Chair,  behind  a  Curtain. " 

Satiro-mastix,  Act  I,  Scene  i.  A  marriage  procession 
crosses  the  stage  on  its  way  to  church.  (Outer  scene. )  Scene  2 . 
"  Horrace  sitting  in  a  study  behinde  a  Curtaine,  a  candle  by  him 
burning,  bookes  lying  confusedly;  to  himself. "  (Inner  scene.) 
In  this  and  the  previous  illustration  there  Is  no  explanation 
about  the  time  of  preparing  the  second  scenes,  but  it  is 
explicitly  stated  that  the  properties  are  behind  the  line  of  the 
curtain.  As  the  settings  are  prepared  when  the  scenes  open, 
and  the  first  scenes  require  nothing  more  than  a  bare  space 
for  the  action,  it  seems  very  probable  that  the  properties  were 
arranged  for  the  inner  scenes  while  the  outer  were  playing. 
Notice  the  effect  secured  by  the  quick  succession  of  the  scenes: 
in  the  Guardian,  Severino  returns  to  his  home  after  a  long 
absence,  hoping  to  bring  joy  to  a  faithful  wife,  but  scarcely 
has  he  entered,  when  the  curtains  draw  and  present  a  scene 
very  different  from  that  the  weary  home-comer  had  expected ; 
in  Satiro-mastix,  as  the  procession  passes,  Crispinus  and  Deme- 
trius are  instructed  to  wait  upon  Horace  with  the  request  that 
he  write  an  epithalamium.  Just  as  the  last  exit  is  made,  the 
curtains  draw,  and  reveal  the  poet  in  his  study  puzzling  his 
brain  over  a  worthless  poem. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  proofs  pi  this  principle,  all 
the  discovered  scenes  might  be  cited  as  showing  one  phase 
of  the  same ;  namely,  the  location  of  the  properties  of  a  regular 
setting  on  the  inner  stage.  A  few  illustrations  may  be  given 
to  explain  my  meaning : 


110  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

Downfall  of  Robert  Earl  of  Huntington,  III.  2.  "Curtain 
opens :  Robin  Hood  sleeps  on  a  green  bank,  and  Marian  strew- 
ing flowers  on  him." 

Whore  of  Babylon,  Prologue.  "He  [the  Prologue]  drawes  a 
Curtaine,  discovering  Truth  in  sad  abiliments;  uncrowned: 
her  haire  disheveld,  &  sleeping  on  a  Rock:  Time  (her  father) 
attired  likewise  in  black,  and  al  his  properties  (as  Sithe, 
Howre-glasse  and  Wings)  of  the  same  Cullor,  using  all  means 
to  waken  Truth,  but  not  being  able  to  doe  it,  he  sits  by  her 
and  mourns. " 

Brazen  Age,  II,  2.  "Two  fiery  Buls  are  discovered,  the 
Fleece  hanging  over  them,  and  the  Dragon  sleeping  beneath 
them. " 

Insatiate  Countess,  I,  1.  "The  Countesse  of  Swevia  dis- 
covered sitting  at  a  table  covered  with  blacke,  on  which  stands 
two  black  tapers  lighted,  she  in  mourning. " 

David  and  Bethsabe,  I.  1,  "He  [the  Prologue]  drawes  a 
curtaine  and  discovers  Bethsabe,  with  her  Maid,  bathing 
over  a  spring. " 

A  Wife  for  a  Month,  III,  1 .  "Enter  divers  Monks,  Alphonso 
going  to  the  Tomb,  Rugio  and  Frier  Marco,  discover  the  Tomb 
and  a  Chair." 

After  all,  why  should  we  expect  to  find  a  heterogeneous, 
chaotic  setting  on  the  outer  stage,  and  the  properties  changed 
before  the  audience?  Hundreds  of  years  before  the  existence 
of  Hamlet  and  King  Lear,  when  the  drama  was  still  in  the 
church,  the  different  scenes  had  their  own  sedes  and  plateae. 
In  the  miracles  and  moralities  of  later  days  the  same  form  of 
staging  was  observed ;  and  in  the  interludes,  the  action  being 
confined  to  one  space,  the  same  setting  was  generally  used 
throughout  the  play.  Why  then  should  staging  have  so 
degenerated  during  our  greatest  dramatic  period?  Some 
incongruities  of  course  existed,  and  a  list  of  rather  glaring 
examples  could  easily  be  collected,  but  these  are  the  exceptions 
and  not  the  rule.  Any  small  unnoticeable  object  could  remain 
on  the  outer  stage  throughout  the  play;  special  settings  were 
frequently  placed  there,  and  occasionally  a  very  plain  normal 
setting  was  arranged  before  the  curtain:  but  the  placing  and 


METHOD  OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION  111 

replacing  of  a  regular  setting  in  full  view  of  the  audience  never 
was  a  general  custom.  It  is  contrary  to  the  very  nature  of  the 
stage, — an  illusive,  make-believe  world. 

II.       OUTER  AND  INNER  STAGES  BECOME  ONE 

When  the  curtains  were  closed,  the  space  before  them  was 
a  stage  in  itself;  when  the  curtains  were  drawn,  the  outer  and 
inner  stages  became  one,  and  the  properties  on  the  inner  stage 
gave  the  setting  for  the  whole.  The  size,  shape,  and  loca- 
tion of  the  outer  stage — a  large  space,  projecting  well  into  the 
audience  with  its  own  entrances  and  exits — would  seem  almost 
sufficient  proof  in  themselves  of  the  first  part  of  this  principle. 
On  turning  to  the  plays,  illustration  of  its  use,  such  as  the  fol- 
lowing, in  which  characters  are  already  in  action  on  the  outer 
stage  when  the  curtains  draw,  are  comparatively  numerous: 

Lust's  Dominion,  Act  I,  Scene  i.  "  Music  sounding  within". 
Enter  Queen  Mother  of  Spain  with  two  pages:  Eleazar,  sit- 
ting on  a  Chair:  the  Curtain  is  suddenly  drawn."  During  the 
scene  between  the  Queen  and  Eleazar  some  one  knocks  at  the 
door.  "Eleazar  shuts  them  in,"  and  (Scene  2)  "  Alvero 
enters. "  A  scene  follows  here  between  the  two,  evidently 
on  the  outer  stage;  after  which  (Scene  3)  "The  curtains 
being  drawn,  there  appears  in  his  bed  King  Philip,  with  his 
Lords."  The  stage  directions  here  show  quite  clearly  that 
Scene  2  was  before  the  closed  curtains,  and  also  that  the  time 
of  its  playing  was  occupied  with  the  resetting  of  the  inner 
stage. 

White  Devil,  Act  V,  Scenes  4-5.  "Enter  Flam  and  Gasp 
at  one  dore,  another  way,  Giovanni,  attended."  After  sev- 
eral incidents  have  taken  place,  Florence  enters  with  the  news 
that  Cornelia  has  grown  wild  with  grief  over  her  dead  boy. 
Flamineo  says :  "  I  will  see  them.  They  are  behind  the 
travers.  He  discover  their  superstitious  howling."  "Cor- 
nelia, the  Moore  and  3.  other  ladies  discovered,  winding 
Marcello's  coarse." 

Henry  VIII,  Act  II,  Scenes  2-3.  "Enter  Lord  Chamber- 
laine,  reading  his  letter. "     Presently  "  Enter  to  the   Lord 


112  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

Chamberlainc,  The  Dukes  of  Norfolke  and  Suffolke."  After  a 
brief  discussion  of  the  influence  of  Wolsey  on  the  King,  "  Exit 
Lord  Chamberlaine,  and  the  Kingdrawes  the  Curtaine  and  sits 
reading  pensively. " 

Using  the  principle  already  established,  namely,  that  the 
properties  of  a  regular  setting  were  located  on  the  inner  stage, 
the  second  part  of  this  principle  may  be  proved  by  illustra- 
tions in  which  the  proscenium  doors  or  balcony  windows  were 
used  in  combination  with  the  inner  stage.  The  first  two 
fixtures  were  on  the  outer  stage,  and  if  characters  entered  a 
set  scene  through  the  proscenium  doors,  or  took  part  in  the 
action  of  a  set  scene  while  in  the  balcony  windows,  the  whole 
platform  must  have  been  regarded  as  one  stage  when  the 
curtains  were  drawn. 

An  almost  unlimited  number  of  illustrations,  such  as  the 
following,  in  which  the  proscenium  doors  were  used  as 
entrances  to  a  set  stage,  could  be  given: 

/  //  You  Know  not  Me,  III,  i.  Elizabeth  and  her  maid 
are  sitting  asleep  in  a  room  in  the  home  of  Beningfield. 
"Enter  Winchester,  Constable,  Barwick,  and  Fryers:  At 
the  other  door,  two  Angels." 

Bondsman,  V,  3.  The  scene  represents  a  court  of  justice, 
and  the  judges  are  seated  in  their  places.  "  Enter  at  one  Door 
Leosthenes  and  Timagoras ;  at  the  other,  Officers  with  Pisander 
and  Timandra." 

Love  and  Honor,  V.  2.  The  scene  is  a  council  chamber 
with  the  Duke  in  state  and  the  court  around  him.  "Enter 
Evan.  Mel.  Guards  at  one  door,  Alv.  Prof.  Leo.  at  the  other 
door." 

City  Madam,  V,  3.  During  the  banquet  scene,  Sir  John 
orders  the  spirit  of  Orpheus  to  appear  and  to  render  again 
"those  ravishing  strains  with  which  he  moved  Charon  and 
Cerberus  to  give  him  way  to  fetch  from  Hell  his  lost  Eurydice." 
"  Musick.  At  one  Door  Cerberus;  at  the  other,  Charon, 
Orpheus,  Chorus." 

The  following  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  use  of  the  balcony 
windows  in  connection  with  a  set  scene : 

Love's  Sacrifice,  V,   1.     "Enter  above  Fiormodo.     A  Cur- 


METHOD   OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION  113 

taine  drawne,  below  are  discovered  Biancha,  in  her  night  attire, 
leaning  on  a  cushion  at  a  Table,  holding  Fernando  by  the 
hand." 

Emperor  of  the  East,  I,  2.  During  a  court  scene  on  the 
lower  stage,  "The  curtains  drawn  above,  Theodosius  and  his 
eunuchs  discovered." 

David  and  Bethsabe,  I,  1.  "He  [the  Prologue]  draws  a 
curtain  and  discovers  Bethsabe,  with  her  maid,  bathing  over  a 
spring;  she  sings,  and  David  sits  above  viewing  her." 

In  Chapter  III  it  was  shown  that  the  characters  "  above  "  in 
these  situations  were  at  one  of  the  balcony  windows.  Their 
connection,  therefore,  with  set  scenes  while  being  stationed 
on  the  outer  stage,  shows  conclusively  that  the  scenes  occupied 
both  stages. 

This  principle,  as  we  have  already  seen,  formed  an  important 
factor  in  the  system  of  staging  during  1 660-1 700.  If  it  was 
indispensable  on  a  later  outer-inner  stage,  it  must  also  have 
been  essential  on  an  earlier.  It  must  be  granted  that  the  law 
is  a  very  plausible  one  and  grows  directly  out  of  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  stage  and  the  location  of  the  properties.  Just  as 
was  stated  in  connection  with  this  principle  in  Restoration 
play-production,  the  setting  being  on  the  inner  stage  and 
the  outer  lying  between  it  and  the  audience,  the  two  stages 
must  necessarily  become  one  when  the  curtains  are  drawn ;  the 
eye  irresistibly  glides  over  the  level  floor  and  sees  only  the 
properties  in  the  background. 

III.      THE  CONTINUOUS  ACT1 

By  means  of  the  alternation  of  outer  and  inner  scenes, 

1  A  thorough  study  of  the  division  of  an  Elizabethan  play  into  acts 
is  greatly  needed.  Such  an  investigation  may  show  that  some  of  the 
details  in  this  section,  such  as  the  number  and  position  of  the  act- 
divisions,  need  to  be  changed ;  but  I  believe  it  will  not  affect  the  general 
principle  which  I  am  here  trying  to  explain.  Some  light  has  been 
thrown  on  this  question  in  two  short  studies:  Brander  Matthews, 
Why  Five  Acts;  and  W.  J.  Lawrence,  Music  in  the  Elizabethan 
Theater,  in  Shakespeare  Jahrbuch,  1908.  A  doctor's  dissertation  on 
the  subject  by  Mr.  B.  W.  Stair  is  to  appear  soon  in  Columbia  Uni- 
versity Studies  in  English. 


114  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

and  the  succession  of  outer  as  well  as  certain  inner 
scenes,  the  action  in  an  act,  regardless  of  the  number 
of  scenes,  was  practically  continuous  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end.  Before  taking  up  this  principle  under  the 
two  headings,  succession  and  alternation,  it  may  be  useful 
to  notice  the  nature  of  Elizabethan  scenes.  With  regard 
to  the  setting,  they  are  of  just  three  kinds:  first,  those  in 
which  properties  are  used,  as  room  scenes,  forest  scenes,  etc.; 
second,  those  in  which  no  properties  are  needed  in  the  action  or 
mentioned  in  the  lines,  as  street  scenes,  battle  scenes,  wall 
scenes,  and  the  like;  third,  those  in  which  no  properties  are 
needed,  and  which  could  be  played  either  with  or  without 
a  setting,  as  the  many  conversational  scenes.  The  first  kind 
are  regularly  inner  scenes,  the  second  outer,  and  the  third  are 
divided  between  the  two  according  to  the  needs  of  each  situa- 
tion. An  examination  of  an  Elizabethan  play  shows  the 
arrangement  of  outer  and  inner  scenes  in  an  order  far  too  reg- 
ular to  be  a  mere  coincidence.  In  truth,  every  one  must 
feel  that  there  lies  hidden  in  this  system  a  principle  which  the 
dramatists,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  always  obeyed  in 
writing  their  plays. 

A .     Succession  of  scenes 

i.  Outer  Scenes.  As  outer  scenes  were  played  before 
the  curtain  without  properties  and  without  a  painted  "  flat "  at 
the  rear  to  distinguish  one  street  or  public  place  from  another, 
two  or  three  such  scenes  could  occur  in  succession  without  con- 
fusing the  action.  With  one  proscenium  door  closed,  that 
side  of  the  stage  could  as  well  represent  the  front  of  Bra- 
bantio's  house  as  Shylock's;  with  the  doors  thrown  open,  the 
outer  stage  would  be  sufficient  for  a  street,  a  battle-field,  or  any 
open  place.  So  far  as  the  ground  is  concerned,  all  places  are 
much  the  same,  and  without  properties  or  scenery,  this  bit  of 
space  would  take  its  location  from  the  lines  and  the  characters. 
A  street  scene  could  be  followed  by  a  parley  from  the  walls 
of  a  city  by  drawing  the  upper  curtains  and  revealing  the 
gallery  with  certain  characters  upon  it ;  or  it  could  be  followed 


METHOD  OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION  115 

by  a  courtship  scene  with  a  Juliet  in  one  of  the  balcony- 
windows  and  a  Romeo  on  the  lower  stage.  With  the  doors 
closed,  two  or  more  conversational  scenes,  apparently  in 
a  house,  could  likewise  occur  in  succession  before  the  cur- 
tains if  no  properties  were  needed  in  the  action.  Here,  I 
believe,  many  of  the  shipboard  scenes  were  acted  without 
a  single  property.  The  characters  usually  do  nothing  but 
rush  in  with  a  great  hurrah,  give  or  receive  a  few  orders, 
and  exeunt  in  the  same  frantic  manner;  so  that  the  ship 
could  belong  to  either  party,  according  as  the  "blue"  or 
the  "gray"  was  on  the  scene.  There  seems  no  need  of  illus- 
trating this  part  of  the  principle  from  the  plays.  We  have 
shown  in  a  previous  section  that  the  outer  stage  was  the  regu- 
lar place  for  the  unpropertied  scenes,  and  a  glance  at  any 
modern  edition  of  Elizabethan  plays,  in  which  the  editor  has 
marked  the  locality  of  the  scenes,  will  show  a  succession  of 
street  scenes,  battle  scenes,  etc.,  which  usually  require  no 
properties. 1 

2.  Inner  Scenes.  If  two  or  more  inner  scenes  contained 
practically  the  same  settings,  they  could  occur  in  succession 
without  changing  the  properties.  It  has  already  been  stated 
that  the  customary  properties  for  a  room  were  a  table,  chairs, 
and  stools.  With  such  a  plain  and  general  setting,  the  stage 
might  represent  a  room  in  Mr.  A's  house  as  well  as  in  Mr.  B's, 

1  This  is  perhaps  a  misleading  reference,  as  the  place  indications 
prefixed  to  every  scene  in  modern  editions  of  Elizabethan  plays  are, 
of  course  the  interpolations  of  the  editors,  and  often  represent  the 
wildest  kind  of  guesses.  The  headings,  "A  Street, "  or  " A  Field, "  are 
however,  often  trustworthy,  for  the  scenes  are  not  usually  marked 
in  this  way  unless  the  lines  plainly  call  for  a  street  or  a  field,  and  there 
is  no  opportunity  for  a  more  specific  localization.  The  most  difficult 
task  before  the  editor  of  to-day,  and  the  one  which  he  usually  performs 
badly,  is  the  localization  of  what  I  have  called  on  page  114  the  third 
class  of  scenes.  This  class  is  made  up  largely  of  conversational  scenes. 
Very  often  two  or  more  characters  meet  for  a  necessary  dialogue ;  but 
the  place  of  their  meeting  is  in  no  way  indicated,  and  doubtless  neither 
author  nor  audience  thought  of  its  having  any  particular  location. 
Such  scenes,  which  it  is  plainly  evident  the  author  had  no  thought  of 
localizing,  should  be  headed  "A  Place,"  or  "A  Scene  on  the  Outer 
Stage. " 


116  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

if  there  was  no  special  attention  called  to  the  properties.  A 
throne  was  the  main  piece  of  furniture  in  a  presence  chamber, 
and,  therefore,  there  is  no  reason  why  Porrex's  court  should 
differ  from  Ferrex's.  Wood-settings  were  likewise  very  simple 
so  that  scenes  supposedly  in  different  parts  of  the  forest  could 
follow  each  other  without  change.  Illustrations  from  the 
plays  of  the  succession  of  inner  scenes  are  not  necessary.  A 
room  in  X's  house  is  followed  by  a  room  in  Y's  house,  or  a  scene 
in  one  part  of  a  forest  is  succeeded  by  one  in  another,  and 
there  is  an  end  of  it.  It  should  be  stated,  however,  before 
leaving  this  part  of  the  principle,  that  although  the  succession 
of  outer  scenes  and  the  succession  of  similar  inner  scenes  are 
of  common  occurrence,  a  long  series  of  either  is  seldom  found. 
Such  a  series  would  lead  to  monotony,  and  the  very  existence 
of  the  outer-inner  stage  came  from  a  demand  for  a  rapid  and 
frequent  change  of  scene. 

B.     Alternation  of  scenes 

Another  means  of  keeping  the  action  in  progress  during 
the  act  was  the  alternation  of  inner  and  outer — propertied  and 
unpropertied — scenes.  One  scene  took  place  on  the  outer 
stage  without  properties,  and  another  on  the  two  stages  com- 
bined with  the  regular  setting  on  the  inner;  and  in  both  cases 
the  action  was  mainly  before  the  line  of  the  curtain.  In  the 
discussion  of  this  method,  I  shall  first  give  an  outline  of  the 
scenes  in  an  entire  play,  then  show  the  presence  and  necessity 
of  alternation  in  a  number  of  single  acts,  and  end  by  showing 
the  operation  of  both  parts  of  the  principle  of  the  continuous 
act  in  a  typical  Elizabethan  play. 

Blurt  Master  Constable,  Act  I,  Scene  i.  A  room.  Proper- 
ties used — inner  scene.  A  banquet  scene.  Scene  2.  A 
street  before  Blurt's  house.  No  properties  needed  or  men- 
tioned— outer  scene.  "  Here  dwells  the  constable."  Act  II, 
Scene  1.  A  street.  No  properties  needed  or  mentioned — 
outer  scene.  Men  meet  on  their  return  from  playing  tennis. 
Scene  2.  A  room.  Properties  used — inner  scene.  A  ban- 
quet  scene.     Act    III,    Scene    1.     A   street.      No   properties 


J__,.^^V"1W 


Timon  of  Athens,  v,  3-     Inner  Scene. 


Enter  a  Souleiier  in  the  Woods,  seeking  Timon. 
>'  S0l — Timon  is  dead,  who  hath  out-stretcht  his 

Some    Beast  reade  this;   There  do's  not 

live  a  Man. 
Dead  sure,  and  this  his  Grave,  what  s  on 

this  Tomb." 


V 


T^i*^nl> 


•fTHE 


UNIVERSITY 

OF 


METHOD  OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION  117 

needed  or  mentioned — outer  scene.  Music  before  a  window. 
Scene  2.  Before  a  monastery.  No  properties  needed  or  men- 
tioned— outer  scene.  Violetta  meets  Fontinelle.  Scene  3.  A 
room.  Properties  used — inner  scene.  Ladies  are  sitting 
at  a  table.  Act  IV,  Scene  1.  A  street.  No  properties 
needed  or  mentioned — outer  scene.  A  balcony  window 
scene.  Scene  2.  A  room.  Properties  appropriate — inner 
scene.  "Enter  Lazarillo  bareheaded,  in  his  shirt,  a  pair 
of  pantables  on,"  etc.  Scene  3.  A  street.  No  properties 
needed  except  a  rope-ladder — outer  scene.  A  balcony- 
window  scene.  Act  V,  Scene  1.  A  place.  No  properties 
needed  or  mentioned — outer  scene.  Conversational.  Scene 
2.  A  room.  Properties  used — inner  scene.  "  O,  lie  still,  lie 
still!"  Scene  3.  A  street.  No  properties  needed  or  men- 
tioned— outer  scene.  "Stand,  stand;  here's  the  house." 
The  localities  of  the  scenes  in  this  play,  thirteen  in  number, 
are  of  course  not  marked  in  the  quarto,  but  it  is  evident  that 
some  are  indoor  scenes  and  some  outdoor,  the  former 
requiring  properties  and  the  latter  not.  Between  these  two 
classes  of  scenes — the  one  played  on  the  outer  stage  and  the 
other  on  both — there  is  an  almost  regular  alternation,  which 
would  allow  the  action  to  continue  without  interruption 
through  each  act. 

Monsieur  Thomas,  Act  V,  Scene  i.  A  street.  No  proper- 
ties needed  or  mentioned — outer  scene.  Hylas  waiting  for 
Dorothy  "as  she  comes  back."  Scene  2.  A  bed-chamber. 
Properties  used — inner  scene.  "  A  Bed  discovered  with  a 
Black-moore  in  it."  Scene  3.  A  street.  No  properties 
needed  or  mentioned — outer  scene.  Hylas  meets  the  sup- 
posed Dorothy  as  she  is  returning.  Scene  4.  A  room  in 
a  nunnery.  Properties  appropriate — inner  scene.  "Musick 
singing."  The  Abbess  with  Cellide  and  the  nuns.  Scene 
5.  A  place.  No  properties  needed  or  mentioned — outer  scene. 
The  scene  consists  of  only  seven  lines,  and  is  entirely  un- 
located;  Michael  is  inquiring  for  Valentine.  Scene  6.  A 
street.  No  properties  needed  or  mentioned — outer  scene. 
Hylas  meets  Sam,  and  tells  him  of  his  recent  marriage. 
Scene  7.     A  room  in  a  nunnery.     Properties  appropriate — 


118  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

inner  scene.  "This  gentle  Ladies  Lodge."  Monsieur,  dressed 
as  a  woman,  is  caught  by  the  Abbess.  Scene  8.  A  street.  No 
properties  needed  or  mentioned — outer  scene.  Hylas  meets 
Dorothy  on  her  way  home  from  the  nunnery.  Scene  9.  A 
hall.  Properties  needed — inner  scene.  All  the  regular  charac- 
ters, one  after  another,  are  ushered  into  a  hall  in  Valentine's 
house. 

Pilgrim,  Act  V,  Scenes  1-2.  A  wood.  Properties  used — 
inner  scenes.  The  second  follows  the  first  without  change. 
In  both  scenes  the  woods  are  several  times  referred  to:  "  We  '11 
cross  these  woods — here  in  the  Thicket — in  these  woods." 
Scene  3.  A  place.  No  properties  needed  or  mentioned — 
outer  scene.  The  Governor  talking  with  Verdugo  and 
some  citizens  somewhere  in  the  town.  Scene  4.  A  wood. 
Properties  used — inner  scene.  Roderigo  and  Pedro  are 
sitting  "in  the  woods,"  where  "the  wind  blows  through  the 
leaves,"  and  the  "birds  sing  softly."  Scene  5.  Before  a 
mad-house.  No  properties  needed  or  mentioned — outer 
scene.  Seberto  and  Curio  have  come  to  inquire  after  Al- 
phonso,  a  prisoner  in  the  asylum;  at  the  end  Seberto  says, 
"Let's  in,  and  visit  him."  Scene  6.  Within  a  church. 
Properties  used — inner  scene.  "Holy  Altar,  daign  to  take 
these  for  our  selves." 

Royal  King  and  Loyal  Subject,  Act  III,  Scene  i.  A  place. 
No  properties  needed  or  mentioned — outer  scene.  This  is  a 
short  scene,  and  entirely  unlocated;  the  Clown,  Mary,  and 
Audley  meet  and  talk.  Scene  2.  A  royal  chamber.  Prop- 
erties used — inner  scene.  "  Sound :  Enter  the  King,  Clinton, 
Bonville,  Prince,  Princesse."  Isabella  is  ushered  in  by 
Chester,  and  becomes  the  "Soveraignes  Bride."  Scene  3. 
Before  a  house.  No  properties  needed  or  mentioned — 
outer  scene.  The  Captain  and  the  Clown  come  to  the  door, — 
"here  will  we  knock."  Scene  4.  A  room.  Properties  used 
— inner  scene.  The  Captain  and  Clown  are  now  in  a  room, 
and  the  mistress  of  the  house  bids  the  Clown,  "  sit  upon  my 
knee  my  sweet  boy."  Scene  5.  A  room.  Properties  used 
— inner  scene.  The  king  says,  "  Lords,  and  the  rest  forbeare 
us  till  we  call,  a  chaire  first,  and  another  for  our  Queene." 


METHOD  OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION  119 

Maid's  Tragedy,  Act  V,  Scene  r.  A  bed-chamber.  Prop- 
erties used — inner  scene.  The  "  King  abed "  is  killed  by 
Evadne.  Among  others  who  enter  at  the  servants'  shouts  of 
"  Treason,  Treason !"  is  Lisippus,  the  new  King.  He  is  weep- 
ing over  the  dead  body  of  his  brother,  when  Strato  rushes  in 
with  the  news  that  "Melantius  has  got  the  Fort,"  and  is 
rapidly  collecting  men.  The  King  says,  "Follow  all;  for 
this  must  have  a  sudden  stop."  Scene  2.  "Enter  Melant. 
Diph.  and  Cal.  on  the  wall."  The  scene  is  before  the  walls 
of  the  fort.  No  stationary  properties  needed  or  mentioned — 
outer  scene.  The  King  and  his  men  enter  presently,  a  parley 
is  held,  and  Melantius  submits  to  terms  of  peace.  Scene  3.  A 
room.  Properties  needed — inner  scene.  As  Amintor  comes, 
Aspatia  says,  "Please  it  your  Lordship  to  command  your 
man  out  of  the  room." 

Wife  for  a  Month,  Act  II,  Scene  i.  A  place.  No  proper- 
ties needed  or  mentioned — outer  scene.  Scene  2.  A  room. 
Properties  used — inner  scene.  Scene  3.  A  room.  Same  as 
Scene  2.  Scene  4.  Before  the  court.  No  properties  needed 
or  mentioned — outer  scene.  Scene  5.  A  dressing  room. 
Properties  needed — inner  scene.  Valerio,  with  his  friends 
around  him,  is  being  dressed  for  the  masque.  Scene  6.  A 
hall.  No  properties  needed  or  mentioned — outer  scene. 
The  clown  and  others  are  holding  the  doors  against  the  citi- 
zens, who  are  besieging  them  for  entrance  to  the  masque; 
finally  they  hear  the  music  and  know  the  King  is  coming. 
Scene  7.  A  large  room.  Properties  used — inner  scene.  "A 
Curtain  drawn.  The  King,  Queen,  Valerio,  Evanthe,  Ladies, 
Attendants,  Camillio,  Cleanthes,  Sorano,  Menallo.  A  Mask. 
Cupid  descends,  the  Graces  sitting  by  him,  Cupid  being  bound 
the  Graces  unbind  him,  he  speaks."  In  the  last  part  of  this 
act  we  have  a  dressing-room  scene,  then  a  mock  scene  on  the 
outer  stage,  and  last,  the  curtains  being  drawn,  a  masque 
scene  in  which  the  whole  stage  is  used.  Scene  6,  humorous 
of  course,  has  no  vital  connection  with  the  main  action,  but 
while  the  Clown  was  cracking  his  jokes  at  the  door,  the  proper- 
ties of  the  dressing-room  scene  were  being  removed  and  a  new 
setting  placed  for  the  audience  in  the  masque ;  so  that  when 


120  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

all  was  ready,  the  curtains  could  draw  and  the  play  begin 
at  once.  The  masque,  being  the  important  part  of  the  scene 
and  calling  for  ascending  and  descending,  was  most  likely  on 
the  outer  stage,  and  the  mock  audience  on  the  inner.  The 
gayly  dressed  court,  seated  in  the  rear,  and  not  speaking  till 
after  the  play  was  all  over,  formed  a  perfect  background  for  the 
light,  graceful,  mythological  masque. 

The  Captain,  Act  V,  Scene  i.  A  place.  No  properties 
needed  or  mentioned — outer  scene.  (Curtains  closed — doors 
open.)  The  Father,  as  if  by  chance,  meets  Lodowick  and  Piso ; 
after  they  are  gone,  Angelo  and  Julio  pass  this  way.  Scene  2. 
A  room.  Properties  used — inner  scene.  (Curtains  drawn — 
doors  closed.)  Clora,  Frank,  and  Frederick  are  all  trying  to 
devise  some  way  to  get  the  Captain  into  the  house.  He  has 
come  as  far  as  the  door  but  will  not  enter.  They  first  try  the 
experiment  of  throwing  foul  water  on  him  from  a  window 
(reported  action)  with  the  hopes  that  he  will  rush  in  for  re- 
venge, but  still  he  does  not  appear.  Last  Fabritio  decides  to 
go  out  and  insult  him,  and  possibly  in  a  rage  Jacomo  will 
follow  him  in.  Scene  3.  A  street  before  the  house.  No 
properties  needed  or  mentioned — outer  scene.  (Curtains 
closed — doors  open.)  As  the  Captain  is  walking  along 
sniffing  and  complaining  at  the  water  thrown  on  him,  Fabritio 
appears,  strikes  him,  and  runs  off  with  Jacomo  following. 
Scene  4.  A  room.  Properties  used — inner  scene.  (Cur- 
tains drawn — doors  closed.)  As  the  scene  opens,  Clora  shouts, 
"Be  ready  for  I  see  Fabritio  running,  and  Jacomo  behind  him." 
Just  then  Fabritio  bursts  in  and  the  enraged  Captain  after 
him.  "Fred.,  Clor.,  and  Maid,  lay  hold  on  Jacomo.  'They 
drag  him  to  a  chair  and  hold  him  down  in  't."  By  the  inner 
stage  being  set  with  room  properties,  these  outer  and  inner — 
street  and  room — scenes  can  follow  in  rapid  succession  by 
simply  opening  and  closing  the  curtains.  And  here  not  only 
a  change,  but  a  swift  one,  is  necessary.  Jacomo  is  round 
about  the  house  all  the  while,  and  if  Scene  4  cannot  follow 
Scene  3  almost  immediately,  the  whole  effect  of  the  trick  is 
lost. 

The  Mad  Lover,  Act  V,  Scene  i.     In  the  temple.     Proper- 


¥*4l*fiufo* 


Plate  12.— Timon  of  Athens,  v,  4-     Ojter  scene. 

Trumpets  sound.  Enter  Ahibiades  with  his 
Pozvers  before  Athens. 

"Ale.  Sound  to  this  Coward,  and  lascivious 
Towne,  Our  terrible  approach. 

Sounds  a  party.  The  Senators  a/./eare  uj>on 
the  Wats. 


METHOD  OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION  121 

ties  used — inner  scene.  (Curtains  drawn — doors  closed.) 
The  Princess  having  begun  her  devotions,  the  Nun  "draws 
the  Curtain  close."  Scene  2.  A  place.  No  properties 
needed  or  mentioned — outer  scene.  (Curtains  closed — 
doors  open.)  The  scene  is  conversational  and  unlocated,  but 
distinctly  not  in  the  church.  Scene  3.  In  the  temple. 
Properties  used  —  inner  scene.  (Curtains  drawn — doors 
closed.)  "  Enter  Nun,  she  opens  the  Curtain  to  Calis.  Calis 
at  the  Oracle."  Scene  4.  A  street.  No  properties  needed 
or  mentioned — outer  scene.  (Curtains  closed — doors  open.) 
A  number  of  characters  pass;  some  are  on  their  way  home 
from  the  temple.  Scene  5.  Council  chamber.  Properties 
used — inner  scene.  Curtains  drawn — doors  closed.)  The 
King  is  in  council  with  his  sister,  when  Polydor  is  borne  in. 
As  already  noted,  the  second  and  fourth  scenes  need  no 
properties,  and  have  no  connection  whatever  with  the  temple 
or  the  council  chamber;  while  the  first,  third,  and  fifth  are 
clearly  located,  and  each  requires  a  special  setting.  The 
opening  and  closing  of  the  curtains,  which  is  plainly  stated  in 
two  cases,  with  the  accompanying  alternation  of  outer  and 
inner  scenes  solve  the  difficulty.  By  this  means  all  these 
brief  incidents  can  be  given  in  rapid  succession,  and  yet  each 
have  its  proper  setting. 

Wit  without  Money,  Act  V,  Scene  i.  A  room.  Properties 
needed — inner  scene.  (Curtains  drawn — doors  closed.)  The 
Widow  sends  word  to  her  sister  that  she  will  remain  "  at  home 
this  evening, "  but  later  orders  her  coach  made  ready  quickly. 
Scene  2.  A  street.  No  properties  needed  or  mentioned — 
outer  scene.  (Curtains  closed — doors  open.)  Four  different 
crowds  pass  over  the  stage,  a  few  of  each  being  overtaken  by 
the  next.  Scene  3.  A  bed  room.  Properties  used — inner 
scene.  (Doors  closed — curtains  drawn.)  Valentine  says,  as 
one  knocks  at  the  door,  "Fling  up  the  bed  and  let  her  in." 
Scene  4.  A  street.  No  properties  needed  or  mentioned — 
outer  scene.  Men  and  women  crossing  the  stage  as  in  Scene  2. 
The  bed  in  Scene  3  is  not  needed  in  any  way  in  the  action,  and 
the  fact  that  it  is  on  the  stage  indicates  that  it  could  easily  be 
shown  and  was  thought  necessary  to  the  setting. 


122  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

Mayor  of  Queensborough,  Act  V,  Scene  i.  A  hall.  Proper- 
ties needed — inner  scene.  (Curtains  drawn — doors  closed.) 
A  troop  of  players  enter  the  hall,  enumerate  the  plays  in  their 
repertory  to  Simon,  and  later  give  one  before  the  Mayor  and  his 
friends.  Scene  2.  Before  the  walls.  No  properties  needed 
or  mentioned — outer  scene.  (Curtains  closed — proscenium 
doors  and  gallery  curtains  open.)  Aurelius  and  Uther  are 
besieging  a  castle,  and  Vortiger  and  Horsus  are  on  the  walls 
defending  it.  By  closing  the  lower  curtains  and  opening  the 
upper,  a  wall  scene  could  follow  a  room  scene  without  any 
loss  of  time,  which  was  certainly  more  effective  than  a  long 
break  in  the  middle  of  an  act. 

Old  Law,  Act  IV,  Scene  i.  Before  an  inn.  Properties 
used  but  not  as  a  regular  setting — outer  scene.  (Curtains 
closed — one  door  open.)  The  Host  says,  "Will  you  drink  at 
door,  gentlemen?"  and  one  replies,  "  O,  the  summer  air's 
best."  Here  they  drink  and  later  "dance  a  mask."  Scene 
2.  A  wood.  Properties  used — inner  scene.  (Curtains 
drawn — doors  open.)  Cleanthes  says  as  he  enters,  "What  's 
that?  O,  nothing  but  the  whispering  wind  breathes  through 
yon  churlish  hawthorn."  Later  "Enter  Hippolito  from  the 
Wood."  This  is  a  good  illustration  of  an  effort  to  secure 
alternation.  Scene  1  regularly  belongs  in  a  tavern,  but  as  the 
next  must  be  an  inner  with  a  wood-setting,  this  was  placed 
before  the  door  and  several  lines  given  up  to  an  apology  for 
the  same. 

Before  giving  the  closing  full-play  illustration  of  the 
continuous  act,  two  peculiar  customs  in  Elizabethan  staging 
should  be  noticed.  They  are  so  closely  connected  with  the 
alternation  of  scenes  that  they  may  be  considered  at  this 
point  without  interrupting  the  train  of  thought. 

1.     Scenes  change  with  characters  on  the  stage 

We  have  shown  in  different  ways  the  rapid  changes  from 
outer  to  inner  scenes  and  vice  versa,  but  no  mention  has  been 
made  of  the  characters  during  the  change.  We  would  suppose 
that  the  dramatists  cleared  the  stage  at  such  times,  but  in 


METHOD  OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION  123 

truth  they  were  very  indifferent  about  this.  Quite  often 
the  characters  remained  on  the  stage  during  the  opening  or 
closing  of  the  curtains,  and  were  thus  suddenly  transported 
from  a  room  to  a  street — a  located  to  an  unlocated  scene — 
without  changing  their  position  on  the  stage.  However,  hav- 
ing already  met  this  peculiar  custom  in  Restoration  staging, 
we  should  naturally  expect  to  find  it  frequently  practised  on 
the  Elizabethan  stage. 

The  following  examples  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  merging 
of  outer  scenes  into  inner  with  characters  on  the  stage  during 
the  change: 

Henry  VIII,  Act  II,  Scenes  2-3.  At  the  end  of  a  scene 
between  Lord  Chamberlaine  and  the  dukes  of  Norfolk  and 
Suffolk  on  the  outer  stage,  "  Exit  Lord  Chamberlaine,  and  the 
King  drawes  the  Curtaine  and  sits  reading  pensively."  The 
dukes  presently  enter  into  conversation  with  the  King,  and 
all  are  now  supposed  to  be  in  a  private  chamber  in  the  palace. 

Distresses,  Act  VI,  Scenes  1-2.  "  Enter  Leonte,  and  second 
Servant."  After  a  brief  scene  between  the  two  before  the 
closed  curtains,  the  servant  is  dismissed,  and  "  Leonte  steps 
to  the  Arras  softly,  draws  it.  Claramante  is  discovered  sleep- 
ing on  her  Book,  her  Glass  by." 

Dido,  Act  II,  Scenes  1-2.  Aeneas  and  his  lost  com- 
rades are  talking  as  if  before  the  walls  of  Carthage.  The 
conversation  presently  turns  to  the  Queen,  and  at  the  proper 
moment  one  remarks  that  they  are  now  preparing  a  banquet 
in  the  palace;  at  this  the  Queen  and  her  train  enter,  and  the 
whole  stage  is  apparently  a  banquet  hall.  No  change  of  scene 
is  marked,  but,  in  the  light  of  similar  situations  in  both  the 
Elizabethan  and  the  Restoration  drama,  the  curtains  must 
have  drawn  at  the  remark  of  Sergestus,  and  the  properties  in 
the  rear  have  given  the  whole  stage  the  appearance  of  an 
interior  scene. 

As  illustrations  of  changes  from  inner  to  outer  scenes  with- 
out clearing  the  stage,  the  following  examples  may  be  given: 

Lust's  Dominion,  Act  I,  Scenes  1-2.  "Enter  Queen 
Mother  of  Spain  with  two  pages:  Eleazar,  sitting  in  a  chair, 
the  Curtaine  is  suddenly  drawn."     After  a  scene  between 


124  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

Eleazar  and  the  Queen,  some  one  is  heard  knocking  at  the 
door,  and  "Eleazar  shuts  them  in."  Alvero  enters  to 
Eleazar,  and  a  scene  takes  place  between  the  two  as  if  in  a 
different  place. 

Pinner  of  Wakefield,  Act  IV,  Scenes  3-4.  Jenkins  enters  a 
shoemaker's  shop,  and  dares  the  owner  to  meet  him  at  "  the 
townes  end."  The  challenge  is  accepted,  and  after  a  certain 
amount  of  stage  business,  during  which  the  curtains  must 
have  closed,  Jenkins  says,  "  Now  we  are  at  the  townes  end, 
what  say  you  now  ?" 

Just  as  in  the  Restoration  the  "  flats  "  closed  at  an  exeunt 
of  most  of  the  characters,  or,  to  be  more  specific,  at  an 
"exeunt  omnes  praeter,"  leaving  one  or  two  alone  on  the 
stage  to  continue  the  action  (See  Tyrannic  Love,  V,  2-3, 
Duke  of  Guise,  V,  1-2,  and  3-4);  so  must  the  curtains 
often  have  closed  in  similar  situations  in  Elizabethan  plays : 

Fair  Maid  of  the  Exchange,  Act  II,  Scenes  1-2.  "Enter 
Franke.  The  Cripple  at  worke."  At  the  close  of  the  scene 
the  Cripple  says,  "  And  so  farewell,  I  can  no  longer  stand  to 
talke  with  you,  I  have  some  worke  in  hand."  "Exit."  The 
Shop  is  the  Cripple's  regular  place  of  work,  is  no  longer  used 
in  the  scene,  and  is  not  a  place  to  be  left  open  by  its  owner; 
therefore,  the  curtains  must  have  closed  at  the  Cripple's  exit, 
leaving  Frank  on  the  outer  stage  to  continue  the  action. 

Wise  Woman  of  Hogsdon,  Act  I,  Scenes  2-3.  "  Enter  Luce 
in  a  Sempsters  shop,  at  worke  upon  a  lac  'd  Handkercher,  and 
Joseph  a  Prentice."  Other  characters  pass  along  the  street 
before  the  shop  during  the  scene,  but  towards  the  close,  all 
exeunt  but  2d  Luce,  who  concludes  the  act  with  a  soliloquy. 
The  situation  here  is  very  similar  to  that  in  the  previous  illus- 
tration, and  undoubtedly  the  curtains  closed  at  the  exeunt 
of  all  the  characters  but  one. 

/  If  You  Know  not  Me,  Act  III,  Scenes  1-2.  At  the  close 
of  a  room  scene  in  which  a  table,  chairs,  pen,  ink,  paper,  etc. 
are  used,  "  Exeunt  omnes,  praeter  Bening."  Shortly  after 
this,  with  Benington  soliloquizing  alone  on  the  stage,  "  Enter 
Clown,  Barwick,  and  Soldiers,  leading  a  goat;  his  sword 
drawne." 


METHOD  OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION  125 

Trick  to  Catch  the  Old-One,  Act  IV,  Scenes  4-5-6.  After  a 
scene  in  a  room  in  Hoard's  house,  "  exeunt  omnes  praeter"  Wit- 
good  (curtains  closed).  As  he  is  soliloquizing  here,  Joyce 
appears  at  her  window  and  throws  down  a  letter  to  him.  The 
sixth  scene  (curtains  drawn)  is  a  bed  room,  and  apparently 
discovered. 

There  is  no  way  of  absolutely  proving  the  point  that  the 
curtains  closed  at  these  general  exeunts,  but  the  fact  that  the 
"  flats  "  or  curtains  closed  at  these  places  in  similar  situations 
in  Restoration  plays  makes  it  very  probable,  in  the  face  of 
Principles  I  and  II,  that  such  was  the  method.  If  the  custom 
was  allowable  on  the  Restoration  stage  with  a  much  larger 
proscenium  arch  and  a  more  elaborate  setting,  it  would  cer- 
tainly be  tolerated  on  the  Elizabethan.  For  the  system  of 
staging  in  vogue  throughout  the  century,  it  was  a  most  con- 
venient custom.  During  these  soliloquies,  more  or  less  im- 
portant to  the  action,  the  inner  stage  could  be  reset  for  the 
next  scene. 

2.     The  curtains  used  as  doors 

Scenes  in  which  characters  pretend  to  pass  through  a  door 
into  a  house  or  into  another  room  were  very  puzzling  to  me, 
until  I  detected  the  use  of  "  flats"  as  doors  in  the  Restoration. 
The  situations  are  the  same  in  the  plays  of  both  periods,  and  in 
all  probability  this  custom  was  simply  continued  from  the 
earlier.  Instead  of  the  "  flats  "  being  drawn  at  a  command  to 
open  the  door,  the  curtains  parted,  and  in  both  cases  the 
characters  found  themselves  in  another  room.  The  curtains 
before  1660  were  only  about  half  as  high  as  those  after  that 
date,  and  they  would  evidently  be  more  appropriate  for  a  door 
than  the  long,  sweeping  curtains  or  full-sized  "flats"  of  the 
Restoration.  The  following  examples  will  serve  to  illustrate 
this  use  of  the  curtains : 

I  If  You  Know  not  Me,  Act  I,  Scenes  3-4.  Scene  3  is 
before  Elizabeth's  chamber.  "  Enter  Tame  and  Shandoyse, 
with  Souldiers,  drum,  &c."  They  demand  admittance  to  the 
Princess,  but  her  maid  reports,  "  Her  Grace  intreats  you  but 
to  stay  till  morne,  and  then  your  message  shall  be  heard  at 


12G  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

full";  as  she  offers  to  return  with  their  message,  Tame  says, 
"  It  shall  not  need — Presse  after  her  my  Lord."  At  this  they 
are  in  the  presence  of  Elizabeth,  whose  first  words  are,  "We 
are  not  pleased  with  your  intrusion,  lords."  The  situation 
here  is  very  similar  to  that  in  Love  for  Love,  IV,  5-6  ("  Mr. 
Scandal  is  with  him,  Sir;  I  '11  knock  at  the  door.  Goes  to  the 
Scene  which  opens")  only  the  dramatists  had  not  yet 
learned  to  use  explicit  stage  directions.  As  the  men  pre- 
tended to  crowd  into  Elizabeth's  chamber,  the  curtains  drew, 
and  the  whole  stage  became  her  bed  room. 

/  Fair  Maid  of  the  West,  Act  I,  Scenes  1-2.  Spencer  and 
Goodlack  have  come  to  "the  old  house," — the  inn  which  Bess 
keeps.  After  a  short  dialogue,  Spencer  says  "Come  let's 
enter."  With  the  direction,  "Enter  2.  Drawers,"  the  scene 
changes  to  the  interior  of  the  inn.  The  first  drawer  says, 
"  You  are  welcome  Gentlemen."  Just  as  in  the  Restoration, 
the  curtains  must  have  drawn  at  the  last  words  of  Spencer,  and 
the  two,  without  passing  off  the  stage,  found  themselves  in  a 
room  in  the  inn. 

Witches  of  Lancashire,  Act  IV,  Scenes  1-2.  The  witches 
dance  across  the  stage,  leaving  Robin  in  a  maze  at  their  last 
words.  Presently  he  says,  "What  place  is  this?  It  looks 
like  an  old  barne :  ile  peep  in  at  some  cranny  or  other,  and  try 
if  I  can  see  what  they  are  doing.  Such  a  bevy  of  beldames 
did  I  never  behold;  and  cramming  like  so  many  Cormorants: 
Marry  choke  you  with  a  mischiefe."  At  this,  without  a  break 
in  the  text,  the  witches  are  at  their  feast  before  us,  and  Robin 
stands  looking  on.  There  is  no  remark  here  like  "the  Pres- 
ence opens"  (in  Duke  of  Guise,  III,  1)  as  we  pass  from  one 
scene  to  the  other,  but  most  likely  Robin's  peeping  in  at  the 
cranny  was  a  signal  to  draw  the  curtains  for  the  second  scene. 

After  all,  these  long-since  forgotten  customs  are  but 
special  forms  of  the  alternation  of  outer  and  inner  scenes.  They 
are,  however,  very  important  in  the  system,  and  without  a 
knowledge  of  them  the  action  would  often  seem  to  halt  be- 
tween the  scenes.  With  the  main  features  of  the  principle  of 
the  continuous  act  now  before  us  we  may  turn  to  the  closing 
full-play  illustration. 


METHOD  OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION  127 

/  //  You  Know  not  Me,  Act  I,  Scene  i.  Unlocated  place. 
Outer  scene.  Curtains  closed — doors  open — no  properties — 
action  on  outer  stage.  The  lords  enter  two  by  two,  and  after 
a  few  remarks  pass  out  to  "  Attend  the  Queene  into  the  pres- 
ence." Scene  2.  Council  chamber.  Inner  scene.  Cur- 
tains drawn — doors  closed — throne,  etc.  on  the  inner  stage — 
action  on  both  stages.  The  Queen  says,  "We  are  instated 
in  our  Brothers  throne,  .  .  .  here  may  we  sit  secure.  Our 
heart  is  joyful,  lords,  our  peace  is  pure."  At  the  close  of  the 
scene  Philip's  arrival  in  England  is  announced,  and  Mary 
replies  that  she  will  meet  him  "on  the  mid  way."  Scene  3. 
Before  Elizabeth's  chamber.  Outer  scene.  Curtains  closed — 
no  properties — action  on  the  outer  stage.  The  lords  have  just 
arrived  for  the  Princess,  and  demand  "admittance  to  her 
presence."  Scene  4.  Elizabeth's  chamber.  Inner  scene. 
Curtains  drawn — doors  closed — room  properties  on  the  inner 
stage — action  on  both  stages.  Elizabeth,  "in  her  bed,"  re- 
ceives the  orders  "to  appeare  at  Westminster." 

Act  II,  Scene  1.  A  road.  Outer  scene.  Curtains  closed — 
doors  open — no  properties — action  on  the  outer  stage.  Mary 
and  Philip  meet  "on  the  mid  way,"  "in  the  face  of  Heaven, 
and  broad  eye  of  all  the  multitude;"  after  a  short  scene  they 
go  off  for  the  wedding  ceremonies.  Scene  2.  A  room.  Inner 
scene.  Curtains  drawn — doors  closed — room  properties  on 
the  inner  stage — action  on  both  stages.  The  lords  have  come 
to  examine  Elizabeth;  "They  sit:  she  kneels."  Scene  3. 
Before  Elizabeth's  chamber.  Outer  scene.  Curtains  closed — 
doors  open — no  properties — action  on  the  outer  stage.  "En- 
ter three  white-cote  Souldiers,  with  a  jacke  of  beere  "  "  1.  .  .  . 
Here  we  must  watch  till  morning,  and  then  carry  the  Princesse 
to  the  Tower."  Scene  4.  Before  the  door  of  the  prison. 
Outer  scene.  Curtains  closed — one  door  closed — no  proper- 
ties— action  on  the  outer  stage.  Elizabeth  passes  to  her  cell 
in  the  Tower. 

Act  III,  Scene  i.  Presence  chamber.  Inner  scene 
Curtains  drawn — room  properties  on  the  inner  stage — action 
on  both  stages.  The  first  part  of  the  scene  is  a  dumb  show  with 
the  King,  Queen,  lords,  and  ladies  present;  "  Sussex  delivers  a 


128  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

petition  to  the  King."  Scene  2.  Same  as  Scene  4  in  Act  II. 
Outer  scene.  Scene  3.  A  room  in  the  Tower.  Inner  scene. 
Curtains  drawn — doors  closed — room  properties  on  the 
inner  stage — action  on  both  stages.  The  lords  enter  to  Eliza- 
beth with  the  message  that  she  is  to  be  transferred  to  the 
home  of  Beningfield.  Scene  4.  A  road.  Outer  scene.  Cur- 
tains closed — doors  open — no  properties — action  on  the  outer 
stage.  The  people  are  lined  up  along  the  way  to  see  the 
Princess  as  she  passes.  When  she  appears,  Gage  says,  "  These 
are  the  townesmen  of  the  country,  gather  'd  here  to  greet  your 
Grace,  hearing  you  past  this  way."  Scene  5.  A  room. 
Inner  scene.  Curtains  drawn — doors  closed — room  properties 
on  the  inner  stage — action  on  both  stages.  As  Benington  is 
taking  "  off  his  boots  in  the  chair  of  state,"  "  The  Clowne  pulls 
the  chair  from  under  him."  Scene  6.  A  place.  Outer  scene. 
Curtains  closed — doors  open — no  properties — action  on  the 
outer  stage.  A  duel  between  an  Englishman  and  a  Spaniard. 
Act  IV,  Scene  1.  A  room.  Inner  scene.  Curtains  drawn 
— doors  closed — room  properties  on  the  inner  stage — action  on 
both  stages.  The  Princess  writes  a  letter  to  Mary,  and  after- 
wards falls  asleep  in  her  chair.  Scene  2.  A  place.  Outer 
scene.  Curtains  closed — doors  open — no  properties — action 
on  the  outer  stage.  "Enter  Clown,  Barwick,  and  Soldiers, 
leading  a  goat:  his  sword  drawne."  Scene  3.  A  council 
chamber.  Inner  scene.  Curtains  drawn — doors  closed — 
room  properties  on  the  inner  stage — action  on  both  stages. 
"Philip.  Our  Chancellor,  lords.  This  is  our  sealing  day: 
This  our  States  business. — Is  our  signet  there?"  Scene  4. 
A  place.  Outer  scene.  Curtains  closed — doors  open — no 
properties — action  on  the  outer  stage.  "  Clown.  "Whither  go 
you  so  fast,  Mistriss  Clarentia?  Clar.  A  milking."  Scene 
5.  "Near  the  Court."  Outer  scene.  Curtains  closed — 
doors  open — no  properties — action  on  the  outer  stage. 
Elizabeth  is  waiting  to  be  admitted  to  the  Queen.  Scene  6. 
Presence  chamber.  Inner  scene.  Curtains  drawn — doors 
closed — room  properties  on  the  inner  stage — action  on  both 
stages.  The  Princess  is  admitted  to  the  Queen,  and  pardoned 
by  her.     Scene  7.     A  place.     Outer  scene.    Curtains  closed — 


METHOD  OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION  129 

doors  open — no  properties — action  on  the  outer  stage.  Gage 
and  Clarentia  in  conversation. 

Act  V.  Scene  i.  A  room  in  the  court.  Inner  scene.  Cur- 
tains drawn — doors  closed — room  properties  on  the  inner  stage 
— action  on  both  stages.  The  first  part  of  the  scene  is  a  dumb 
show;  Philip  takes  his  leave  of  Mary  to  return  to  Spain. 
Scene  2.  In  the  gallery.  Lower  curtains  closed — gallery 
curtains  drawn — properties  and  action  in  the  gallery.  Eliza- 
beth receives  the  news  of  her  election.  Scene  3.  Presence 
chamber.  Inner  scene.  Curtains  drawn — doors  closed — 
room  properties  on  the  inner  stage — action  on  both  stages. 
"Enter  foure  Trumpeters:  .  .  .  The  Queene  takes  state." 
Elizabeth  is  crowned  Queen  of  England.  Scene  4.  A  place. 
Outer  scene.  Curtains  closed — doors  open — no  properties — 
action  on  the  outer  stage.  The  mayor  of  London  meets  the 
procession  on  its  way  to  London. 

Did  time  and  space  allow,  I  would  outline  in  a  similar  way, 
showing  the  continuation  of  the  action  throughout  the  act,  all 
of  Heywood's  plays,  but  as  anyone  who  examines  them  can  see, 
it  would  be  simply  a  repetition  of  the  illustration  already  given. 
The  omnipresence  of  the  principle  of  the  continuous  act  in  the 
drama  of  the  seventeenth  century  shows  that  the  playwrights 
must  have  regarded  it  as  a  very  important  law  of  staging.  Of 
course,  it  was  not  always  observed ;  there  are  frequent  instances 
in  the  plays  where  two  differently  propertied  scenes  come 
together,  which  must  have  necessitated  some  delay  in  the 
action,  but  perhaps  they  are  not  more  than  sufficient  to  prove 
the  rule.  And  in  this  connection  it  should  be  noticed  that 
violations  of  this  principle,  as  indeed  of  all  the  principles 
of  Elizabethan  staging,  will  be  found  in  the  greatest  number 
among  the  more  or  less  crude  anonymous  plays.  In  fact, 
the  principle  of  the  continuous  act  is  as  much  in  use  to-day  as 
ever ;  only  the  method  of  securing  it  is  different.  Instead  of 
the  alternation  and  succession  of  many  scenes,  there  is  now 
the  continuation  of  one  scene  throughout  the  act. 

Such  are  the  main  principles  of  Elizabethan  staging.  Col- 
lected together  for  the  sake  of  clearness,  they  are  as  follows: 
I.     The  properties  of  a  regular  setting  were  located  on  the 


130  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

inner  stage  and  changed  for  a  new  setting  either  during  an 
act-division  or  during  the  playing  of  a  scene  on  the  outer  stage. 
II.  When  the  curtains  were  closed,  the  space  before  them 
was  a  stage  in  itself;  when  the  curtains  were  drawn,  the  outer 
and  inner  stages  became  one,  and  the  properties  on  the  inner 
gave  the  setting  for  the  whole.  III.  By  means  of  the  alterna- 
tion of  outer  and  inner  scenes,  and  the  succession  of  outer  as 
well  as  certain  inner  scenes,  the  action  in  an  act,  regardless  of 
the  number  of  scenes,  was  practically  continuous  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end. 

On  comparing  Chapters  IV  and  V,  we  find  that  the  majority 
of  the  laws  of  Elizabethan  staging  survived  throughout  the 
seventeenth  century.  But  were  these  principles  as  much  at 
home  on  the  stage  after  1660  as  before?  No.  A  passing 
reflection  on  their  perfect  adaptability  to  the  Shaksperian 
stage,  and  their  succeeding  history,  will  show  this:  1.  As 
there  was  no  painted  scenery,  the  outer  scenes  needed  no 
location  and  the  inner  required  only  a  classification  into  room 
scenes,  forest  scenes,  etc.  2.  The  curtains  were  only  about 
twelve  feet  high,  and  could  therefore  be  opened  and  closed  at 
any  time  with  little  disturbance  to  the  action.  3.  The 
properties  being  few  and  plain,  a  change  from  an  inner  to  an 
outer  scene  could  take  place  without  marked  contrast  or 
disappointment.  4.  The  two  stages  were  of  the  proper 
proportionate  size, — the  outer  large,  and  projecting  well 
into  the  audience,  and  the  inner,  shallow  and  wide,  and  ex- 
tending across  the  entire  visible  rear  of  the  outer.  The 
advantage  of  this  arrangement  of  the  stage  was  very  great : 
First,  when  the  curtains  were  closed,  the  outer  stage  was 
sufficient  in  size  and  appearance  for  any  unpropertied  scene ; 
when  the  curtains  were  drawn,  the  properties  across  the  rear 
gave  the  whole  platform  the  appearance  of  a  set  stage. 
Second,  the  outer  stage  by  its  location  and  size  being  the 
main  place  for  the  action,  the  curtains  could  open  or  close  at 
any  point  without  seriously  disturbing  the  performance  or 
changing  the  position  of  the  action  on  the  stage, — only  in  the 
one  case,  all  the  properties  being  cut  off,  the  scene  was  a  street 
or  any  unlocated  place;  while  in  the   other,  the   properties 


Plate  13. — Court  Stage  in  the  Rubens  Room,  Windsor  Castle,  1S48 


METHOD  OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION  131 

being  visible  in  the  rear,  the  whole  stage  was  a  room,  a  forest, 
or  what  not. 

The  introduction  of  scenery  gave  the  first  fatal  blow  to 
the  old  system.  With  it  came  also  more  elaborate  staging, 
which  tended  to  increase  the  size  of  the  inner  stage  and  im- 
portance of  set  scenes,  and  to  diminish  the  dimensions  of  the 
outer  stage  and  the  popularity  of  unpropertied  scenes.  Under 
these  conditions  there  was  a  marked  contrast  between  the 
two  kinds  of  scenes :  the  one  was  in  a  fairly  realistic  setting, 
the  other  on  a  bare  stage;  the  one  was  removed  and  illusive, 
the  other  prominent  and  unsupported  by  properties.  For 
these  and  other  reasons  the  outer  scenes  grew  less  and  less  in 
number  and  importance,  and  finally  gave  way  to  the  one- 
scene  act.  The  outer  stage  being  now  no  longer  needed,  the 
picture  frame  stage  gained  an  easy  victory  and  soon  estab- 
lished itself  in  all  the  theaters.  The  long  persistence  of  the  old 
principles  of  staging  was  due  to  their  firm  establishment  in 
the  English  drama.  Even  after  the  new  system  had  been 
established,  the  old  was  still  continued  on  a  temporarily  con- 
structed outer-inner  stage,  and  may  still  be  seen  in  this  man- 
ner to-day,  though  it  has  long  since  become  a  creed  outworn. 


CHAPTER  VI 

SHAKSPERIAN  METHOD   OF  STAGE  PRESENTATION 

{Continued) 

SPECIAL   FEATURES  OF  SHAKSPERIAN   STAGING,   ETC. 

In  our  discussion  thus  far  we  have  for  the  sake  of  clearness 
confined  ourselves  to  the  main  principles  of  Shaksperian 
staging.  There  are  still  a  number  of  points  directly  or  other- 
wise connected  with  these  laws  which  need  some  explanation. 
These  questions  will  now  be  taken  up  one  after  the  other  and 
briefly  discussed. 

I.      USE  OF  THE  UPPER  STAGE 

The  use  of  the  gallery,  balcony  windows,  and  "  hut "  did  not 
necessitate  any  new  principles  of  staging.  These  parts  were 
employed  generally  in  connection  with  the  lower  stages,  and 
were  brought  into  service  in  some  plays  and  not  in  others. 
They  might  be  called  extra  fixtures  which  the  dramatist 
always  had  at  his  disposal  when  he  wished  to  bring  in  certain 
kinds  of  situations.  In  Chapter  III  the  working  of  these  parts 
was  necessarily  discussed  in  proving  their  presence;  there- 
fore, only  a  summary  is  needed  here.  The  gallery  served  chiefly 
as  the  walls  of  a  city,  fort,  or  prison,  but  occasionally,  espe- 
cially after  1600,  as  a  prison  or  a  place  of  temporary  confine- 
ment, an  auditorium  for  the  stage  audience  in  a  play  within  a 
play,  a  higher  point  of  observation  or  the  upper  deck  of  a 
ship,  and  a  gallery  or  room  of  a  house.  The  balcony  windows 
were  brought  into  service  in  all  scenes  calling  for  a  second- 
story  window.  Their  being  comparatively  small  and  com- 
manding a  view  of  the  whole  stage  made  them  a  convenient 
132 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  OF  STAGING  133 

place  for  observing  or  overhearing  any  action  on  the  lower  > 
stage.  Their  main  use,  however,  was  to  provide  a  means  iqt 
carrying  out  in  a  realistic  manner  the  many  secret-courtship^ 
scenes,  of  which  the  one  in  Romeo  and  Juliet  is  a  typical 
example.  The  "  hut "  furnished  a  place  for  concealing  both 
the  machinery  used  in  lowering  and  raising  a  body,  and  the 
characters  and  vehicles  taking  part  in  the  action,  before  the 
decension  and  after  the  ascension. 

It  may  at  first  thought  seem  strange  that  the  gallery  did  not 
form  a  more  important  factor  in  keeping  the  action  in  progress 
during  the  act.  It  was  of  course  occasionally  used  for  an  entire 
scene,  as  in  /  If  You  Know  not  Me,  V,  2,  but  it  never  became 
a  regular  cog  in  the  wheel  of  the  continuous  act.  The  reason 
for  this  is  threefold :  first,  the  action  in  the  gallery  must  always 
be  confined  to  this  comparatively  small  rear  space,  while  that 
on  the  inner  stage  has  the  liberty  of  the  whole  lower  platform ; 
second,  the  lower  stage  would  naturally  be  considered  the 
earth  surface  or  ground  floor,  and  the  gallery  any  elevated 
position  or  the  second  story  of  a  building,  which  illusion  would 
in  itself  make  the  latter  inappropriate  for  many  scenes;  third, 
the  outer  and  inner  stages  were  usually  sufficient  in  themselves 
to  keep  the  action  continuous  without  the  aid  of  the  gallery. 

The  relative  unimportance  of  the  gallery  in  the  system 
of  staging  is  shown  by  its  history.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
Elizabethan  period  the  many  historical  plays,  with  their  scenes 
of  besieging  cities,  storming  forts,  and  scaling  walls,  called 
this  member  of  the  stage  into  frequent  service.  After  1600 
the  dramatists  turned  to  a  study  of  manners,  motives,  and 
passions,  and  ceased  to  a  great  extent  to  "fight  over  York 
and  Lancaster's  long  jars."  From  this  time  on  the  gallery 
was  used  less  and  less,  and  in  the  Restoration  it  disappeared 
altogether  as  a  separate  and  permanent  fixture.  Yet  the 
principles  of  staging  continued  all  the  while  unchanged;  the 
same  without  the  time-honored  gallery  as  with  it. 

II.       SPECIAL  SETTINGS 

In  addition  to  the  regular  settings  as  described  in  Principle 


134  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

I,  there  were  also  occasionally  special  settings,  in  which  the 
properties  were  located  on  the  outer  stage,  and  placed  there 
and  removed  in  full  view  of  the  audience. 

A.  Setting  for  a  play  within  a  play 

In  the  preparation  of  a  setting  for  a  play  within  a  play,  the 
audience  proper  was  entirely  lost  sight  of  and  the  presence  or 
absence  of  the  stage  audience  alone  considered.  The  supposed 
stage  manager  and  hands  brought  out  the  properties,  perhaps 
hung  up  a  curtain,  and  arranged  everything,  apparently  with- 
out a  thought  of  the  many  onlookers  in  the  audience ;  when  all 
was  ready,  the  signal  was  given,  and  the  mock  assembly 
entered.  The  fact  that  precaution  was  taken  to  set  the  stage 
out  of  view  of  the  pretended  audience  is  strong  proof  in  itself 
that  the  regular  settings  were  similarly  placed  with  reference 
to  the  real  audience. 

Spanish  Tragedy,  IV,  3.  "Enter  Hieronimo;  he  knocks  up 
the  curtaine.  Enter  the  Duke  of  Castile."  "Cas.  How 
now,  Hieronimo?  Wheres  your  fellows,  That  you  take 
all  this  paine?  Hiero.  O  sir,  it  is  for  the  authors  credit  to 
look  that  all  things  may  go  well.  .  .  .  Bring  a  chaire  and  a 
cushion  for  the  king."  "Enter  Balthazar  with  a  chaire." 
Shortly  after  this,  the  "  King,  Vice-Roy,  the  Duke  of  Castile, 
and  their  traine"  enter  the  gallery  to  witness  the  play. 
Hieronimo,  oblivious  of  the  regular  audience,  hangs  up  his 
curtain  somewhere  on  the  outer  stage,  places  his  dead  son  be- 
hind it — the  body  being  of  course  in  full  view  of  the  main  audi- 
tory, as  a  kind  of  prologue  to  the  little  play — orders  the  other 
properties  brought  in,  and,  in  short,  sets  the  stage  before  the 
King  and  court  enter. 1 

1  All  the  students,  I  believe,  of  the  Elizabethan  stage  are  agreed  that 
the  mock  auditory  in  the  Spanish  Tragedy,  IV,  3,  was  in  the  gallery 
and  that  the  play  within  the  play  was  on  the  lower  stage.  Few,  how- 
ever, give  the  same  interpretation  to  the  stage  direction,  "he  knocks 
up  the  curtaine.  "  Dr.  Brodmeier  says,  "  Mit  diesem  Vorhang  ist  wohl 
die  Verhullung  der  Fenster  auf  der  Oberbuhne  gemeint";  Dr.  Wegener 
thinks  the  regular  stage  curtain  is  implied ;  etc.  The  situation  seems 
to  me  very  plain.     The  King  and  his  train  take  their  seats  in  the  gal- 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  OF  STAGING  135 

Tale  of  a  Tub,  V,  5.  "  Enter  Tub,  followed  by  two  Grooms, 
with  Chairs,  &c.  and  Rosin  and  his  two  Boys."  "  1  Groom. 
Come,  give  us  the  great  chair  for  my  lady,  and  set  it  there: 
and  this  for  Justice  Bramble.  2  Groom.  This  for  the  'squire 
my  master,  on  the  right-hand."  And  so  on  the  grooms  con- 
tinue as  they  place  the  chairs.  In  the  meantime  Tub  is 
hanging  his  curtain,  placing  his  tub,  and  arranging  for  the 
motions;  after  everything  is  ready,  he  calls  to  Rosin  for  a 
"flourish  to  the  Masque":  "Loud  Music.  Enter  Preamble, 
lady  Tub,  Turfe,  dame  Turfe,  Pol  Martin,  Awdrey,  Puppy, 
Wispe,  Hugh,  Clay;  all  take  their  seats." 

Gentleman  Usher,  II,  1.  "Enter  Bassiolo  with  servants 
with  Rushes,  and  a  Carpet."  .  .  .  "Bass.  Come  strew 
this  room  a  fresh;  spread  here  this  carpet.  .  .  .  Enter 
Vin  [centio]  and  Stroz  [za].  .  .  .  Vin.  Who  is  this  throne 
for  pray?  Bass.  For  my  Lords  daughter.  .  .  .  Vin. 
'T  will  be  exceeding  fit ;  and  all  this  roome  is  passing  well  pre- 
parde;  a  man  would  sweare,that  all  presentments  in  it  would 
be  rare."  During  the  preparation  the  different  actors  drop 
in;  one  wondering  how  to  wear  his  clothes,  two  quarreling 
over  a  certain  jerkin,  and  others  at  a  loss  to  know  just  when 
and  where  to  enter.  At  last  all  is  complete,  and  Bassiolo  calls 
"  Sound  Musicke. "  "  Enter  Vincentio,  Strozza  bare,  Mar- 
garet, Corteza,  and  Cynanche  bearing  her  traine.  After  her 
the  duke  whispering  with  Medice,  Lasso  with  Bassiolo,  &c." 

There  was  no  definite  place  for  the  stage  audience  and  the 
play- wit hin-a-play  scene,  but  the  relative  importance  of  the 
two  and  the  immediate  needs  of  the  situation  determined 
the  arrangement  in  each  case.  In  the  Spanish  Tragedy,  IV,  3, 
the  King  and  court  were  seated  in  the  gallery,  and  the  play  was 

lery.  Hieronimo  gives  his  play  on  the  outer  stage, — the  inner  being 
invisible  from  the  gallery.  At  the  psychological  moment  Hieronimo 
"Shewes  his  dead  sonne."  Where  was  the  corpse  ?  It  was  behind  the 
curtain  which  Hieronimo  hung  up  at  the  opening  of  the  scene.  He  had 
prepared  all  this  before  the  others  entered.  This  temporary  curtain 
was  perhaps  hung  just  in  front  of  one  of  the  proscenium  doors,  and  the 
dead  body  was  visible  to  the  majority  of  the  real  audience.  The  sight 
of  it  prepared  them  for  the  bloody  scene  which  was  about  to  take  place 


136  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

on  the  outer  stage.  The  show  was  here  of  greater  significance 
than  the  stage  auditory,  and,  more  than  this,  Hieronimo 
needed  to  be  provided  to  some  extent  against  disturbance 
in  his  play  of  real  life  and  death.  The  mock  audience  in 
Wife  for  a  Month,  II,  6,  having  little  to  do  with  the  action, 
found  its  proper  place  on  the  inner  stage;  while  the  masque, 
being  the  all-important  part  of  the  scene  and  consisting  partly 
of  ascending  and  descending,  was  given  on  the  outer  stage.  In 
Hamlet,  III,  2,  the  effect  on  the  conscience  of  the  King  is  the 
thing,  and,  therefore,  the  stage  audience  was  undoubtedly  on 
the  outer  stage,  and  the  mock  play  on  the  inner, — in  the  same 
relative  position  as  the  scene  is  played  to-day. 

B.  Setting  for  a  scene  of  execution 

Scenes  of  execution  may  be  said  to  constitute  another 
class  of  special  settings  in  which  the  properties  were  placed  on 
the  outer  stage.  Scaffolds  in  real  life  were  often  erected  for 
the  occasion  and  taken  down  afterwards;  in  some  cases  the 
execution  took  place  where  the  crime  was  committed,  which 
condition  would  require  a  special  preparation  for  each  event. 
Therefore,  it  was  only  natural  in  the  play  world  to  erect  the 
scaffold  on  the  outer  stage  before  the  audience  and  to  remove 
it  when  the  scene  was  over.  Considerable  space  was  usually 
needed  for  these  scenes,  and  their  prominence  in  the  action 
called  them  as  near  the  audience  as  possible. 

77  Edward  IV,  V.  The  order  had  gone  forth  from  the  King 
that  no  one  should  harbor  or  in  any  way  give  relief  to  Jane 
Shore.  Young  Aire,  whom  Jane  had  befriended  when  he  was 
suffering  in  prison,  found  her  starving  in  the  streets,  and  gave 
her  his  purse.  As  a  result  he  was  arraigned  before  the  King, 
and  sentenced  to  be  hanged  "just  in  the  place  where  he 
relieved  Shore's  wife."  In  the  next  scene  the  scaffold  was 
supposedly  built  at  that  place,  and  the  death  sentence  car- 
ried out  as  directed.  Earlier  in  the  play  Shore  and  Stran- 
guidge  were  sentenced  to  death:  "Enter  one  bearing  a 
silver  oare  before  Stranguidge,  Shore,  and  two  or  three  more 
pinioned,  and  two  or  three  with  bills  and  a  hangman.     .     .     . 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  OF  STAGING  137 

The  while  the  Hangman  prepares,  Shore  at  this  speech 
mounts  up  the  ladder." 

Bamavelt,  V,  3.  Leidenberg  has  escaped  public  execution 
by  killing  himself.  The  authorities  are  not  satisfied  with  this, 
and  therefore  to  the  place  where  "A  Scaffold  [is]  put  out" 
for  Barnavelt,  they  bring  Leidenberg's  corpse,  set  up  a  gibbet, 
and  hang  the  body  on  it;  this  done,  Barnavelt  is  led  in  and 
put  to  death. 

Virgin  Martyr,  IV,  2-3.  The  scene  is  a  large  hall  where 
Dorothea  is  to  be  publicly  whipped.  "Enter  Dorothea,  led 
Prisoner,  a  Guard  attending;  a  Hangman  with  Cords,  in  some 
ugly  Shape,  sets  up  a  Pillar  in  the  Middle  of  the  Stage ;  Sapri- 
tius  and  Theophilus  sit,  Angelo  by  her."  One  after  another 
applies  the  rod  to  the  victim,  but  in  the  end  the  Governor,  not 
being  satisfied  with  the  torture,  gives  orders  for  her  execution. 
In  the  next  scene  the  scaffold  is  prepared,  and  Dorothea  meets 
her  death. 

There  are  still  other  classes  of  special  settings,  but  an 
enumeration  of  them  is  not  necessary.  The  two  already  given 
explain  the  nature  of  such  scenes,  and  offer  a  key  to  all 
similar  situations.  The  main  thing  to  be  noticed  is  that 
special  settings  are  in  no  way  incongruous,  nor  do  they  con- 
flict with  any  of  the  principles  of  Elizabethan  staging. 

III.       PROPERTIES  MOVED  FORWARD  AND  NEW  ONES    ADDED 
AFTER  THE   SCENE    OPENS 

According  to  Principle  I,  the  properties  of  a  regular  setting 
were  located  on  the  inner  stage,  and  according  to  Principle  II, 
the  properties  on  this  rear  space  gave  the  setting  for  the  whole 
stage.  If  the  properties  were  altars  or  tombs,  the  whole  plat- 
form became  a  church;  if  they  were  chairs,  tables,  etc.,  the 
stage  took  the  appearance  of  a  room.  When  the  scene  was 
once  before  the  audience,  some  or  all  of  the  properties  could 
be  moved  anywhere  about  the  church  or  the  room,  or  other 
furniture  of  the  same  class  added,  without  in  any  manner 
violating  the  old-time  principle  of  congruity.  Under  these 
conditions  properties  were  very  often  moved  forward,  and 


138  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

others  of  a  similar  nature  brought  on.  This  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  action  was  always  carried  down  as  near  the 
audience  as  possible,  and  with  it  occasionally  had  to  come 
certain  properties.  The  same  state  of  affairs  is  noticed  in  the 
Restoration ;  for  example,  in  The  Enchanted  Island,  V,  i : 
"Hippolito  discovered  on  a  Couch,  Dorinda  by  him."  After 
a  few  lines,  "She  draws  the  Chair  nearer  to  the  audience." 
While  it  is  manifestly  impossible  and  impracticable  to  attempt 
to  state  the  manipulation  of  the  properties  on  the  stage  in 
every  Elizabethan  scene,  yet  a  few  general  classes  of  set-forward 
and  added  properties  may  be  briefly  treated  for  the  sake  of 
illustrating  the  general  custom  in  such  situations. 

A.     Small  properties  moved  forward  and  added  according  to 
orders 

There  are  frequent  instances  of  one  character's  ordering 
another  to  place  a  table,  chairs,  or  stools  at  some  convenient 
place  for  him.  In  many  cases  it  is  quite  probable  that  this 
convenient  place  was  the  outer  stage,  and  that  these  directions 
were  little  more  than  an  excuse  to  get  the  properties  and 
the  accompanying  action  nearer  the  audience.  Instead  of  a 
spoken  direction,  doubtless  a  look  or  nod  often  served  the 
same  purpose,  and  the  servant  who  placed  the  property  for- 
ward would  see  that  it  was  removed  when  no  longer  needed. 

Royal  King  and  Loyal  Subject,  III,  4.  "Sound,  enter  the 
King,  Prince,  Princesse,  all  the  Lords,  the  Queene,  &c."  After 
a  few  words  are  spoken,  the  King  says,  "Lords,  and  the  rest 
forbeare  us  till  we  call,  a  chaire  first,  and  another  for  our 
Queene." 

City  Madam,  I,  3.  The  scene  opens  in  Rich's  counting 
house.  Sir  John  says  to  his  debtors,  "What  would  you  have 
me  do?"  and  apparently  to  one  of  his  servants,  "reach  me  a 
Chair." 

Phoenix,  III,  1.  Latronello  and  Fucato  enter  Justice 
Falso's  room  with  the  news  that  "Our  fellow  Furtivio  is  taken 
in  the  action."  Fucato  says,  "They  bring  him  along  to  your 
worship ;  you  're  the  next  justice.     Now  or  never  shew  yourself 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  OF  STAGING  139 

a  good  master,  an  upright  magistrate,  and  deliver  him  out  of 
their  hands."  The  honorable  judge  replies,  "Nay,  he  shall 
find  me — apt  enough  to  do  him  good,  I  warrant  him.  .  .  . 
Go  shift  yourselves  into  your  coats ;  bring  hither  a  great  chair 
and  a  little  table." 

Royal  King  and  Loyal  Subject,  V,  3.  The  scene  opens  with 
the  direction,  "Enter  Clinton  to  Earle  Chester  in  his  study." 
After  a  short  dialogue  between  the  two,  other  characters  enter, 
and  it  is  decided  to  arraign  the  Lord  Martial  in  this  very  room. 
Clinton  says,  "Shall  we  command  a  Barre,  and  call  a  Iury  of 
his  Peeres?"  It  is  agreed  that  they  shall,  and  the  following 
stage  direction  reads,  "A  Barre  set  out.  .  .  .  Audley  and 
Bonvile  bring  him  to  the  Barre  as  out  of  his  bed,  then  take 
their  seates." 

B.     Banquets  brought  on 

Very  much  like  the  custom  of  moving  and  adding  smaller 
properties  on  a  set  scene  was  that  of  bringing  on  and  removing 
a  banquet  during  the  action.  There  are  instances  where  the 
feast  was  discovered  and  perhaps  not  moved  forward,  as  in 
The  Guardian,  III,  7,  but  usually  it  was  carried  in  at  the  open- 
ing of,  or  during,  the  scene.  An  important  part  of  the  action 
often  took  place  around  the  table,  and  under  this  usage  the 
festal  board  could  be  placed  on  the  outer  stage  where  it  would 
find  ample  space  and  prominence. 

City  Madam,  V,  3.  The  scene  is  a  room  in  Sir  John's  house. 
As  guests  are  expected,  Sir  John  steps  to  the  door  and 
orders  the  servants  to  "set  forth  the  Table:  So."  "Enter 
Servants  with  a  rich  Banquet." 

The  Captain,  IV,  4.  The  servant  enters  in  great  frustra- 
tion because  the  banquet  is  not  yet  prepared.  He  calls  out 
to  a  maid  in  an  adjoining  room,  "Why  Nell — whiew — 
Maid  within.  What 's  the  matter?  Enter  Maid.  Ser.  I 
pray  you  heartily,  come  away,  oh,  come,  come,  the  Gentleman 
my  Mistris  invited,  is  coming  down  the  street,  and  the  ban- 
quet not  yet  brought  out?"     "They  bring  in  the  Banquet." 


140  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

C.     Beds  brought  on  and  moved  forward 

Bed  scenes  on  the  Elizabethan  stage  have  been  pretty 
generally  misunderstood.  This  has  been  due  mainly,  of 
course,  to  an  inadequate  knowledge  of  the  general  custom  of 
moving  properties  about  on  the  stage,  but  partly,  I  think, 
to  ambiguous,  and  consequently  misinterpreted,  stage  direc- 
tions. Therefore,  before  taking  up  bed  scenes,  three  very 
common  stage  directions,  "enter,"  "exit"  or  "exeunt,"  and 
"set  out,"  may  be  observed. 

i.     "Enter" 

The  words  "enter,"  "discover,"  "curtains  draw,"  "scene 
opens,  "  and  various  others  are  used  for  the  opening  of  a  scene ; 
but  the  one  most  often  found  is  the  first.  In  fact  the  word 
"enter"  before  one  or  more  of  the  dramatis  personae  occurs  so 
frequently  that  it  may  be  said  to  be  the  regular  opening  term. 
It  seems  to  apply  as  well  to  inner  scenes,  in  which  the  charac- 
ters were  often  "discovered,"  as  to  outer  scenes,  in  which  they 
regularly  entered. 

In  the  Restoration,  when  a  large  inner  stage  was  discovered 
by  drawing  the  curtains,  the  old  Elizabethan  opening  was 
still  often  retained,  except  that  the  location  of  the  scene  was 
usually  added  first:  Friendship  in  Fashion,  V,  i.  "Scene 
Victoria's  Chamber.  Enter  Victoria."  She  Would  if  She 
Could,  V,  i.  "  Sir  Oliver's  Dining-Room.  Table  &  Carpet. 
Enter  Lady  Cockwood."  Constantine  the  Great,  V,  2.  "A 
Bedchamber.  A  Bowl  and  a  Dagger  on  a  Table.  Enter  Con- 
stantius  and  Arius."  Alcibiades,  II,  2.  "A  Grove  adjoining 
to  the  Spartan  Camps.  Enter  Timandra  and  Draxilla." 
Indeed  there  are  instances  far  in  the  eighteenth  century 
where  "enter"  and  "discover"  are  both  used  together,  which 
shows  the  formality  of  the  former.  Clandestine  Marriage,  II, 
1.  "An  Anti-Chamber  to  Lord  Ogleby's  Bed-Chamber. 
Table  with  Chocolate  and  a  small  Case  of  Medicines.  Enter 
Brush,  my  Lord's  Valet-de-Chambre,  and  Sterling's  Chamber- 
maid, discovered." 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  OF  STAGING  141 

The  term  "enter"  in  Elizabethan  plays,  being  a  kind  of 
formal  opening  to  the  scene,  often  led  to  a  strange  stage 
direction.  Along  with  the  word  "enter"  there  was  occas- 
ionally an  attempt  to  depict  the  appearance  of  the  scene  at  the 
opening,  which  usually  shows  all  too  plainly  that  the  first 
term  meant  nothing  in  itself:  The  Guardian,  III,  8.  "Enter 
Jolante  (with  a  rich  Banquet  and  Tapers)  in  a  Chair,  be- 
hind a  Curtain."  She  is  a  woman  in  perfect  health,  and  in 
her  own  dining-room;  therefore,  this  is  simply  a  discovered 
scene  with  "enter"  as  a  formal  opening.  'T  is  Pity  She  's  a 
Whore,  III,  6.  "Enter  the  Friar  in  his  study,  sitting  in  a 
Chayre,  Annabella  kneeling  and  whispering  to  him,  a  Table 
before  them  and  wax  lights."  Pinner  of  Wakefield,  IV,  3. 
"Enter  a  Shoomaker  sitting  upon  the  stage  at  work."  Val- 
entinian,  II,  1.  "  Enter  the  Emmperour,  Maximus,  Licinius, 
Proculus,  Chilax,  as  at  Dice."  They  are  in  the  midst  of  a 
game,  and  continue  to  throw  the  dice  for  a  short  time  after 
the  scene  opens.  Wise  Woman  of  Hogsdon,  I,  2.  "Enter 
Luce  in  a  Sempsters  shop,  at  worke  upon  a  lac'd  Hand- 
kercher,  and  Joseph  a  Prentice." 

Perhaps  a  still  better  example  of  the  formal  use  of  the 
word  "enter"  is  the  following:  Sophonisba,  II,  1.  "  Whil'st 
the  musicke  for  the  first  Act  sounds,  Hanno,  Carthalo,  Bytheas, 
Gelosso,  enter:  they  place  themselves  to  counsell;  Gisco,  the 
impoisoner,  waiting  on  them;  Hanno,  Carthalo,  and  Bytheas 
setting  their  hands  to  a  writing,  which  being  offered  to  Gelosso, 
he  denies  his  hand,  and,  as  much  offended,  impatiently  starts 
up  and  speaks.  Enter  Gelosso,  Hanno,  Bytheas,  Carthelo. 
Gel.  My  hand?  my  hand?  rot  first:  wither  in  aged  shame," 
etc.  The  last  "  enter "  before  the  four  dramatis  personam  is 
not  needed  at  all;  the  characters  are  already  on  the  stage. 

With  a  conception  of  the  meaningless  use  of  "enter"  in 
some  situations,  we  are  able  to  understand  certain  very  strange 
stage  directions  in  bed  scenes : 

Court  Beggar,  IV,  3.  "Enter  Frederick  in  a  Doctors 
habit,  Gabriel  with  two  swords  under  his  cloake,  Ferdinand 
upon  a  Bed  bound,  and  held  down  by  servants."  An  entry 
of  this  kind,  some  carrying  a  bed  and  others  holding  the  man 


142  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

down  upon  it,  would  be  truly  ridiculous.  The  word  "enter  " 
is  simply  here  according  to  custom,  and  the  scene  is  a  regularly 
discovered  one. 

Monsieur  Thomas,  III,  i.  "Enter  Frank  sick,  Physic- 
ians, and  an  Apothecary."  The  first  physician  shouts, 
"Clap  on  the  Cataplasm."  As  Frank  remonstrates,  the 
second  physician  says,  "  pray  keep  your  arms  in,  the  air  is  raw, 
and  ministers  much  evil."  The  whole  scene  shows  clearly  that 
Frank  was  lying  abed  in  his  own  room,  and  that  there  was  no 
need  of  an  entry  at  the  opening. 

By  this  discussion  I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  every 
bed  scene  introduced  by  "enter"  was  a  discovered  one,  any 
more  than  that  all  scenes  before  which  the  word  occurs  were 
inner  scenes,  but  simply  that  every  case  of  this  kind  must  be 
judged  as  discovered  or  not  by  the  situation  and  not  by  the 
term  "enter." 

2 .     "  Exit "  and  "  exeunt ' ' 

"Exit"  and  "exeunt"  are  the  regular  terms  in  Elizabethan 
plays — so  far  as  there  are  any  directions  at  all — for  marking 
the  close  of  a  scene  and  act.  They  denote  the  conclusion  of 
an  inner  scene  as  well  as  an  outer,  and  therefore  the  kind  of 
scene  which  they  follow  can  never  be  determined  by  them 
alone. 

This  same  custom  still  prevailed  to  a  great  extent  in  the 
Restoration.  Many  of  the  acts  which  close  with  a  well  set 
scene,  or  with  one  in  which  dead  bodies  are  left  on  the  stage, 
end  simply  with  "exit"  or  "exeunt."  While  there  may  be 
frequent  mention  throughout  the  act  of  closing  the  scenes  or 
drawing  the  curtains,  the  act  itself  usually  closes  with  the  long 
established  words.  In  Venice  Preserved  both  the  new  and  the 
old  method  of  marking  the  close  are  used.  The  last  scene, 
in  which  Pierre  and  Jaffeir  die  on  the  scaffold  and  Belvidera  by 
her  own  hands,  ends  with  "  Curtain  falls.     Exeunt  omnes." 

3      "  Set  out " 
The  term  "set  out"  has   generally   been   taken  to  mean 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  OF  STAGING  143 

only  one  thing, — the  placing  of  properties  on  the  outer  stage ; 
but,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  there  is  no  ground  for  such  a  limited 
interpretation.  It  was,  of  course,  often  used  for  moving 
properties  forward  or  placing  them  on  the  front  stage,  but  may 
it  not  have  been  used  also  for  setting  properties  on  the  inner 
stage  with  the  curtains  closed  ?  There  is  often  nothing  in  the 
text  to  indicate  the  part  of  the  stage  on  which  the  properties 
were  placed,  and  I  have  already  shown  that  the  regular  settings 
were  always  behind  the  line  of  the  curtains.  It,  therefore, 
seems  to  me  more  than  probable  that  the  term  "set  out," 
when  referring  to  a  regular  setting,  signified  the  placing  of 
properties  on  the  inner  stage  behind  closed  curtains. 

No  one  seriously  doubts  that  in  the  Restoration  the  regular 
settings  were  on  the  inner  stage,  and  yet  this  stage  direction 
is  frequently  found.  For  example:  Amboyna,  V,  i.  "A 
Table  set  out.  Enter  Harman, "  etc.  Spanish  Friar,  II,  3. 
"  Scene,  a  Chamber,  A  Table  and  Wine  set  out.  Enter  Lor- 
enzo." Conquest  of  China  by  the  Tartars,  V,  2.  "  The  Palace. 
A  Table  and  Chaires  set  out,  with  Pen,  Ink,  and  Paper."  If 
"set  out"  in  these  plays  refers  to  the  settings  on  the  inner 
stage,  why  may  not  this  term  in  such  Elizabethan  plays  as  the 
following  have  the  same  significance :  /  Fair  Maid  of  the  West, 
IV,  2.  "  Enter  Besse,  Mayor,  Alderman,  Clem.  A  table  set 
out,  and  stools."  Platonic  Lovers,  II,  1.  "Enter  Ariola, 
Rosella,  with  Tapers.  A  Table  with  Night-linen  set  out." 
Platonic  Lovers,  IV,  1.  "Enter  Theander,  Eurithea,  a  Table, 
Stools,  and  Lights  set  out."  Renegado,  II,  4.  "A  Table 
set  forth,  Jewels  and  Bags  upon  it." 

Very  similar  to  "set  out"  for  tables,  chairs,  etc.,  are  the 
phrases,  "thrust  out,"  "put  forth,"  "thrust  forth,"  used  in 
connection  with  beds.  It  is,  therefore,  probable  that  these 
directions,  also,  occasionally  signified  nothing  more  than 
the  particular  position  of  the  bed  on  the  inner  stage  or  the 
placing  of  it  there  while  the  curtains  were  closed. 

These  and  all  other  stage  directions  were  sufficiently 
intelligible  to  an  Elizabethan.  Being  familiar  with  the  gen- 
eral customs  of  staging,  he  did  not  read  the  stage  directions 
literally,  but  interpreted  them  in  all  cases  according  to  the 


144  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

immediate  needs  of  the  situation.  And  the  same  knowledge 
must  be  brought  to  bear  upon  them  to-day;  an  understanding 
of  Elizabethan  staging  is  necessary  for  a  proper  interpretation 
of  the  old  stage  directions. 

With  this  precaution  against  ambiguous  stage  directions, 
we  may  now  take  up  the  topic  which  heads  this  section, — beds 
brought  on  and  moved  forward.  For  the  sake  of  clearness  we 
shall  study  the  subject  under  two  headings,  beds  in  indoor 
scenes  and  beds  in  outdoor  scenes. 

i .     Beds  in  indoor  scenes 

The  Elizabethan  plays  are  full  of  situations  in  which  a  bed, 
couch,  or  chair  is  "thrust  forth,"  "drawn  forth,"  "put  out," 
"drawn  out,"  "put  forth,"  "carried  in,"  "brought  in,"  etc. 
The  explanation  of  this  old  custom  has  already  been  implied 
in  the  previous  sections.  When  the  curtains  were  drawn 
revealing  room  furniture  on  the  inner  stage,  the  whole  plat- 
form became  a  chamber.  A  couch  standing  in  the  rear  when 
the  scene  opened  could  easily  be  moved  forward  and  drawn 
back  at  the  close;  and  similarly  a  bed  could  be  drawn  from 
an  adjoining  room  and  placed  on  any  part  of  the  stage.  Beds, 
couches,  and  chairs  were  all  used  for  reclining  purposes,  but  it 
is  likely  that  in  most  cases  where  they  were  moved  about 
the  two  latter  were  generally  employed.  A  couch  was  a  very 
movable  piece  of  furniture,  and  carrying  it  from  one  room  to 
another,  or  moving  it  around  in  the  same  room,  seems  to  have 
been  a  very  conventional  thing.  For  example,  in  The  Roman 
Actor,  V,  i,  Caesar  calls  out,  "  Bring  my  Couch  there:  Enter 
with  Couch.  A  sudden  but  a  secure  Drowsiness  invites  me  to 
repose  myself." 

There  are  scenes  in  which  the  bed  was  not  necessarily  used 
by  any  of  the  characters;  and  others  in  which  the  characters 
on  the  bed  played  little  part  in  the  action  themselves  but 
were  there  to  create  the  desired  effect  on  the  others.  As  illus- 
trations of  the  former  case :  Caesar  and  Pompey,  IV,  i.  "  Por- 
cius  in  haste,  Marcillius  bare,  following.  Porcius  discovers  a 
bed,  and  a  sword  hanging  by  it  which  he  takes  downe." 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  OF  STAGING  145 

Wit  without  Money,  V,  4.  Some  one  is  knocking  at  the 
door  for  admittance,  and  Valentine  says,  "fling  up  the  bed 
and  let  her  in."  In  neither  of  these  scenes  was  the  bed  neces- 
sarily used ;  and  had  there  not  been  a  passing  mention  of  it, 
we  should  not  have  known  that  this  piece  of  furniture  was  on 
the  stage.  It  is  possible  that  a  bed  or  couch  formed  part  of 
the  setting  of  many  a  scene,  even  though  there  is  no  notice  of 
it  in  the  text. 

In  the  discovered  scenes  it  is  always  possible  that  the  bed 
was  moved  forward  during  the  action,  whether  or  not  there  are 
stage  directions  to  this  effect.  In  the  following  examples, 
the  bed  was  discovered,  and  yet  drawn  in  at  the  close,  which 
shows  that  it  was  drawn  forward  sometime  during  the  action. 
Four  Plays  in  One,  The  Triumph  of  Love,  Scene  4.  "  Enter 
Violante  in  a  Bed;  Angelina  and  Dorothea  sitting  by  her." 
But  at  the  close  Angelina  says,  "  Draw  in  the  Bed  nearer  the 
Fire,  and  silken  Rest,  tie  all  thy  Cares  up."  "Exeunt." 
Monsieur  Thomas,  V,  1.  "A  Bed  discovered  with  a  Black- 
moore  in  it."  After  the  trick  is  over,  Mary  says,  "  Draw  in  the 
Bed,  Maids,  and  see  it  made  again." 

There  are  numerous  situations  in  which  a  character  is  car- 
ried into  the  presence  of  another,  and  may  come  from  an 
adjoining  room,  another  tent,  or  from  any  place.  In  these 
cases  it  is  usually  stated  that  they  are  borne  in  a  chair.  For 
example:  Gentleman  Usher,  V,  1.  "Enter  Strozza,  Vincentio, 
brought  in  a  chaire,  Benevenius,  Pogio,  Cynanche,  with  a 
guard,  Strozza  before  &  Medice."  The  Prince  has  been 
wounded  in  a  fight  with  Lord  Medice,  and  is  brought  into 
the  presence  of  the  King,  his  father.  King  Lear  (folio,  1623), 
IV,  7.  The  scene  is  in  and  before  a  tent,  where  Cordelia  is 
talking  with  the  faithful  Kent.  At  the  proper  moment, 
"Enter  Lear  in  a  chaire  carried  by  Servants."  The  child- 
changed  father  is  brought  here  that  he  may  awake  in  the 
presence  of  Cordelia.  The  real  object,  of  course,  is  that  this 
beautiful,  this  impressive,  this  wonderful  scene  may  be  played 
as  near  the  audience  as  possible. 1 

1  In  the  quartos  no  entry  is  marked  for  King  Lear,  and  the  text  is 


146  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

2 .     Beds  in  outdoor  scenes 

In  addition  to  a  bed,  couch,  or  chair  being  used  in  connec- 
tion with  a  room,  there  are  instances  where  it  was  carried 
out  into  a  yard  or  street.  These  cases,  however,  are  always 
provided  for  by  the  needs  of  the  situation:  //  Edward  IV, 
III,  4.  "  Enter  M.  Blage  &  her  two  men,  bringing  in  Shoar 
alias  Floud,  in  a  chaire,  his  arme  bleeding  apace."  The 
scene  shows  that  they  are  before  a  house,  but  the  first  line 
gives  the  reason  for  their  carrying  him  to  this  place :  "So  set 
him  here  awhile,  where  is  more  aire."  Wife  for  a  Month,  IV, 
1.  "Enter  Alphonso,  carried  on  a  Couch  by  two  Fryars." 
The  first  words  of  Alphonso  explain  why  he  is  carried  out  of 
the  monastery  in  this  fashion : 

"  Give  me  more  air,  air,  more  air,  blow,  blow, 
Open  thou  Eastern  Gate,  and  blow  upon  me, 
Distill  thy  cold  dews,  O  thou  icy  Moon, 
And  Rivers  run  through  my  afflicted  spirit." 

Our  study  of  bed  scenes  cannot  be  exhaustive,  but  only 
illustrative.  It  seems,  however,  that  sufficient  has  been  said 
to  throw  light  on  all  such  scenes.  In  general,  the  situation 
seems  to  be  this :  in  a  room  scene  a  bed  could  be  brought  on 
and  placed  anywhere  on  the  stage,  or  one  already  there  moved 
to  any  part  of  the  room;  in  all  other  bed  scenes  the  presence 
of  this  property  is  explained  by  the  situation. 

The  list  of  special  features  and  minor  points  of  Elizabethan 
staging  could  be  extended  indefinitely,  but  perhaps  it  has  been 
continued  far  enough.  To  summarize  it  as  it  stands:  1. 
The  gallery,  balcony  windows,  and  "hut"  were  in  a  sense 
extra  fixtures,  which  were  always  at  the  disposal  of  the 
dramatist  whenever  he  wished  to  use  them.  A  sufficient 
summary  of  the  function  of  these  parts  was  given  at  the 
opening  of  the  chapter.  2.  There  were  certain  settings,  here 
termed  special  settings,  which  were  located  on  the  outer  stage, 

slightly  different  from  that  of  the  folios.  This  may  mean  that  in  the 
early  years  of  the  play,  Lear  was  "discovered"  on  the  inner  stage, 
and  perhaps  moved  forward  during  the  scene;  but  it  is  very  probable 
that  it  signifies  nothing  more  than  that  this  bit  of  "business"  was 
omitted  in  the  quartos. 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  OF  STAGING  147 

and  placed  there  and  removed  in  full  view  of  the  audience. 
Two  of  these  are  (i)  a  setting  for  a  play  within  a  play,  and  (2) 
a  setting  for  a  scene  of  execution.  When  properly  understood, 
this  "business"  is  sufficiently  consistent.  3.  When  a  scene 
was  once  before  the  audience,  properties  were  moved  about  on 
the  stage  and  new  ones  added:  first,  small  properties  were 
moved  forward  and  added  according  to  orders;  second,  ban- 
quets were  brought  on  and  removed;  third,  beds  were 
brought  on  and  moved  forward.  This  movement  of  proper- 
ties was  reasonably  congruous,  because  it  was  not  the  placing 
of  a  setting  on  the  stage  but  merely  the  rearranging  of  one 
already  there. 

With  this  discussion  of  special  features,  etc.,  our  study  of 
the  Shaksperian  stage  ends.  The  main  conclusions  which 
we  have  reached  in  the  essay  may  be  summarized  as  follows : 
The  liturgical  play  was  performed  on  sedes  and  plateae  ar- 
ranged down  the  nave  and  choir  of  the  church;  the  sedes  were 
mainly  for  the  propertied  and  located  scenes,  and  the  plateae 
for  the  unpropertied  and  unlocated  ones.  When  the  litur- 
gical play  of  the  clergy  became  the  miracles  and  moralities  of 
the  laity,  the  old  form  of  stage  was  still  retained ;  the  sedes  and 
plateae  of  the  church  were  simply  transferred  to  the  market- 
place and  guild-hall.  In  the  interludes  and  shorter  moralities 
the  same  two  classes  of  stages  were  used,  but  only  one  class — 
either  a  sedes  or  a  platea — could  be  employed  in  a  play.  The 
Elizabethan  stage,  consisting  of  an  outer  and  an  inner  stage 
separated  by  a  curtain,  two  proscenium  doors,  two  balcony 
windows,  a  gallery,  and  a  "heavens,"  was  little  more  than  a 
union  of  the  old  sedes  and  plateae  of  the  moralities,  or  the 
propertied  and  unpropertied  stages  of  the  interludes, — the 
sedes  and  propertied  scaffold  being  represented  by  the  outer 
and  inner  stages  combined,  and  the  platea  and  unpropertied 
scaffold  by  the  outer  stage  with  the  curtains  closed.  The 
three  main  principles  of  Elizabethan  staging  are  the  following: 
I.  The  properties  of  a  regular  setting  were  located  on  the 
inner  stage,  and  changed  for  a  new  setting  either  during  an 
act-division  or  during  the   playing  of  a  scene  on  the  outer 


148  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

stage.  II.  When  the  curtains  were  closed,  the  space  before 
them  was  a  stage  in  itself;  when  the  curtains  were  drawn,  the 
outer  and  inner  stages  became  one,  and  the  properties  on  the 
inner  gave  the  setting  for  the  whole.  III.  By  means  of 
the  alternation  of  outer  and  inner  scenes,  and  the  succession  of 
outer  as  well  as  certain  inner  scenes,  the  action  in  an  act,  re- 
gardless of  the  number  of  scenes,  was  practically  continuous 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 

In  conclusion.  Shakspere's  stage  needs  no  apology.  It 
was  a  product  not  unworthy  of  the  great  dramatic  age.  It 
was  plain  and  somewhat  crude,  but  carefully  constructed  to 
meet  the  needs  of  the  story-like  drama.  The  Elizabethan 
plays  and  the  Elizabethan  people  did  not  call  for  elaborate 
stage-settings,  but  only  for  sufficient  properties  to  make  the 
playing  a  representation  of  real  life  and  not  a  "  public  reading." 
The  stage  artists  were  not  toiling  through  the  long  period  of 
three  quarters  of  a  century  in  ignorance  of  other  stage  condi- 
tions; different  stages  and  methods  of  staging  were  in  use  on 
the  continent, — yes,  even  in  their  very  midst,  at  the  court  and 
elsewhere;  but  the  influence  of  these  things  is  scarcely  felt. 
And  only  in  the  declining  days  of  play- writing,  after  the  drama 
had  passed  from  the  thoughtful  to  the  spectacular,  did  it  be- 
come necessary  to  alter  the  stage  and  to  add  those  features 
which  had  long  been  knocking  for  admission. 

The  stage  of  Shakspere,  I  repeat,  was  plain  and  simple  but 
fully  equipped  with  all  the  apparatus  necessary  to  bring  out 
the  best  that  was  in  his  plays.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  the 
absence  of  a  front  curtain  made  a  formal  ending  in  death 
scenes  necessary  in  order  to  get  the  mimic  dead  off  the  stage. 
-This  may  have  been  so  in  some  plays  but  not  in  the  majority. 
The  typical  Elizabethan  tragedy  does  not  deal  with  the  mis- 
takes of  a  night,  but  with  the  long — often  life-long— struggles 
of  its  hero.  Such  a  play  must  have  an  appropriate  ending. 
After  the  audience  has  sympathized  with  a  Hamlet  or  a  Brutus 
through  many  a  scene,  it  is  not  satisfied  with  a  sudden  death 
and  a  drop  of  the  curtain  with  a  thud.  It  asks  to  see  the  body 
solemnly  and  reverently  borne  off  the  stage  as  if  to  its  last 
resting  place.     And  this  was  the  respect  which  the  honored 


SPECIAL  FEATURES  OF  STAGING  149 

dead  received  on  the  Elizabethan  stage.  For  example,  in 
The  Roman  Actor,  "Exeunt.  A  sad  Musick,  the  players 
bearing  off  Paris's  body,  Caesar  and  the  rest  following " ;  or 
in  The  Massacre  of  Paris,  "  They  march  out,  with  the  body  of 
the  King  lying  on  four  men's  shoulders,  with  a  dead  march, 
drawing  weapons  on  the  ground."  Even  in  the  Restoration, 
when  there  was  always  sufficient  space  behind  the  curtain  to 
conceal  the  mimic  dead,  the  old  custom  was  occasionally 
used:  Cleomenes.  "Take  up  that  Hero's  Body,  bear  it  high, 
like  the  Procession  of  a  Deity."  .  .  .  "Ex.  omnes." 
The  only  satisfying  ending  I  have  ever  seen  to  Hamlet  on  the 
modern  stage  was  one  in  which  all  the  characters  passed  out 
before  the  curtains  closed.  The  King  fell  on  one  side  of  the 
stage  near  Laertes  and  the  Queen  on  the  other.  As  Hamlet 
felt  his  end  drawing  near,  he  made  his  way  to  the  throne  and  ~~p  * 
there  died  in  the  arms  of  his  faithful  friend,  Laertes. 
Just  then  a  march  which  had  previously  been  heard  afar  off 
drew  near  and  Fortinbras  and  his  men  entered.  At  the  re- 
quest of  Horatio,  the  future  King  ordered  all  the  dead  bodies 
to  be  taken  to  a  public  stage,  but  that  of  Hamlet  to  be  borne 
there  like  a  soldier  by  four  captains;  "and  for  his  passage 
the  soldiers'  music  and  the  rites  of  war  [to]  speak  loudly  for 
him."     While  the  men  were  making  a  temporary  litter  out  ^ 

of  their  shields  and  spears,  the  King,  Queen,  and  Laertes  were 
unnoticeabjy: .disposed  of.  When  the  bier  was  ready,  the 
noole  Hamlet  was  reverently  placed  on  it,  the  crown  laid  on 
his  breast  under  his  folded  hands;  and  lifted  high  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  men,  he  was  borne  out  to  the  sound  of  mar- 
tial music.  When  the  stage  was  almost  clear,  the  curtains 
closed.  No  more  impressive  ending  could  be  secured,  and 
yet  the  form  is  Elizabethan. 

The  story-like  drama  and  the  outer-inner  stage  nourished 
together  and  died  together.  In  their  places  have  come  the 
episodic  drama  and  the  picture-frame  stage.  Perhaps  the 
new  is  as  good  as  the  old.  We  have  no  King  Lears  nor  Ham- 
lets to-day,  but  this  is  not  because  we  have  the  picture-frame 
stage,  but  because  we  have  not  the  Elizabethan  Age  with  its 
crowning  dramatic  genius,  Shakspere. 


APPENDIX 

Among  the  articles  mentioned  in  the  Bibliography  there  are 
three  doctors'  dissertations  on  the  Elizabethan  stage:  Cecil 
Brodmeier,  Die  S hakes peare-Buhne  nach  den  alien  Buhnenan- 
weisungen  (Weimar,  1904).  George  F.  Reynolds,  Some 
Principles  of  Elizabethan  Staging  (Chicago,  1905).  Richard 
Wegener,  Die  Buhneneinrichtung  des  Shakespeareschen  Theaters 
nach  den  zeitgenossischen  Dramen  (Halle,  1907).  Taking  them 
up  in  the  order  of  their  publication,  I  will  give  a  brief  review  of 
each  study. 

Dr.  Brodmeier  attempts  to  explain  the  Shaksperian  stage 
and  staging  "nach  den  alten  buhnenanweisungen. "  He 
accepts  at  the  outset  the  stage  shown  in  the  DeWitt  drawing, 
but  immediately  proceeds,  without  sufficient  proof,  to  add 
those  parts  which  he  thinks  are  lacking  or  otherwise  out  of 
sight  on  the  Swan  stage.  He  hangs  up  three  sets  of  large 
curtains :  a  middle  curtain  enclosing  the  entire  space  between 
the  two  pillars;  and  two  side  curtains,  one  on  either  side 
extending  from  the  pillars  to  the  rear  wall.  Besides  adding 
these  hangings,  he  runs  a  wall  back  on  both  sides  of  the  stage 
from  the  outer  edge  of  the  two  pillars.  In  this  way  he  forms 
three  main  "  buhnenfelder, " — the  "  vorderbiihne  *'  in  front  of 
the  curtain,  the  "  hinterbuhne  "  behind  the  curtain,  and  the 
"  oberbiihne  "  or  gallery. 

In  the  absence  of  all  proof  for  such  a  stage,  only  a  few  words 
need  be  said  in  disproof  of  this  reconstruction:  1.  It  is 
contrary  to  all  the  pictures  purporting  to  represent  Eliza- 
bethan stages;  the  Swan  has  no.  curtain  at  all,  Kirkman's — 
the  so  called  Red  Bull — has  a  curtain  across  a  rear  door,  and 
the  Roxana  and  Messallina  have  curtains  suspended  from 
151 


152  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

the  outer  edge  of  the  galleries.  2.  It  is  impracticable;  it 
shuts  off  all  rear  scenes  from  the  view  of  a  large  part  of  the 
audience.  3.  It  does  not  fall  in  line  with  the  Restoration 
stage  and  with  all  succeeding  English  stages.  4.  The  lines 
and  stage  directions  in  Elizabethan  plays  flatly  contradict 
such  an  arrangement. 

This  form  of  stage  was  reconstructed  by  Dr.  Brodmeier 
to  meet  the  needs  of  the  impossible  "alternation  theory." 
According  to  this  theory  there  was  a  continuous  alternation 
between  scenes  on  the  "  vorderbiihne  "  and  scenes  on  the 
"hinterbuhne."  All  scenes  in  which  the  gallery,  doors, 
curtains,  or  properties  were  used  were  played  on  the  back 
stage.  "Clashes"  in  the  alternation  of  front  and  back  scenes 
according  to  these  tests  are  innumerable.  A  thorough  dis- 
cussion of  these  "clashes"  was  given  by  Dr.  Reynolds  in  the 
April  number  of  Modern  Philology  for  1905.  His  article  is 
able,  convincing,  and  final,  and  nothing  needs  to  be  added  to 
it  by  me.  The  only  question  about  his  article  is  why  he 
should  have  spent  so  much  energy  in  refuting  such  an 
impossible  idea  of  the  Elizabethan  stage  and  staging.  A 
very  few  of  his  illustrations  are  sufficient  to  show  that  Brod- 
meier's  theory  on  Brodmeier's  stage  is  nonsensical.  The 
stage  is  impracticable,  how  could  the  staging  be  otherwise? 
As  I  have  shown  in  my  essay,  there  were  no  front  and  rear 
scenes,  as  a  rule,  but  full-stage  and  outer  stage — inner  and 
onter — scenes.  Moreover,  there  was  no  continuous  alterna- 
tion of  the  two  classes  of  scenes ;  one  of  the  requirements  of  the 
dramatists  was  to  keep  the  action  in  progress  during  the  act, 
and  the  alternation  of  scenes  was  frequently  necessary  to  meet 
this  demand. 

But  even  Brodmeier's  ideas  are  not  half  so  fatal  to  a  proper 
understanding  of  Shakspere's  plays  as  those  expressed  by 
Dr.  Reynolds  in  the  second  half  of  Some  Principles  of  Eliza- 
bethan Staging,  in  Modern  Philology,  June,  1905,  and  in  a  re- 
cent article,  "Trees"  on  the  Stage  of  Shakespeare,  in  Modern 
Philology,  October,  1907.  In  these  studies  he  lays  down 
the  following  principle:  "This  [dramatic]  convention  [in  plays 
of  the  Shaksperian  theater]  allowed  the  presence  upon  the 


APPENDIX  153 

stage  of  a  property  or  furnishing  which  was  incongruous  to  the 
scene  in  progress,  and  which  during  the  scene  was  thought 
of  as  absent,  though  standing  in  plain  sight.  This  incon- 
gruity took  two  forms :  either  the  close  juxtaposition  upon  the 
stage  of  two  properties  which  in  reality  should  have  been  a 
much  greater  distance  apart,  or  the  presence  of  a  property  in 
a  scene  where  it  could  never  naturally  have  been ;  as  a  tree,  for 
example,  in  the  midst  of  a  room  scene."  As  an  illustration 
of  this  idea,  let  me  quote  his  clairvoyant  description  of  one 
act  of  an  imaginary  play: 

"  The  play  is  one  of  the  romantic  dramas  so  common  to  the 
Elizabethan  stage.  The  scene  shifts  between  a  forest  and  a 
desert  in  Africa,  and  the  city  of  Rome.  Before  the  perfor- 
mance begins  the  stage  is  already  set  with  most  of  the  proper- 
ties necessary  for  the  production.  Near  one  door  stand  three 
or  four  trees — as  many  as  the  theatre  owns  and  as  the  stage 
space  allows.  .  .  .  Near  the  other  door  are  a  chair  and 
table.  Between  them  are  twenty  or  thirty  three-legged 
stools,  and  in  the  background  across  the  front  of  the  rear  stage 
hangs  the  closed  curtain  with  a  scene  from  classic  story 
painted  upon  it.  Across  the  front  of  the  balcony  hangs  a 
cloth  painted  to  represent  a  wall,  and  over  the  two  exposed 
doors  are  respectively  the  inscriptions  '  Rome '  and  '  Africa. ' 
On  the  pillars  hangs  the  title  of  the  play — now,  unfortunately, 
unknown.  Soon  the  three-legged  stools  are  almost  filled 
with  young  gallants.  .  .  .  Then  the  play  begins.  From 
the  door  marked  '  Rome '  enter  two  people  in  conversation ; 
the  lady  Sylvia  is,  it  appears,  to  be  married  by  her  avaricious 
guardian  to  his  foolish  son.  The  trees  do  not  disturb  us  by 
their  presence — they  are  unmentioned,  and  are  therefore 
unnoticed.  As  soon  as  these  two  are  gone,  the  curtains  part, 
and  the  guardian  is  discovered  in  his  own  room  bending  over 
a  chest  and  counting  his  ward's  fortune.  He  sends  for  her; 
the  beautiful  boy  who  plays  the  part  of  Sylvia  enters  and  is 
ordered  to  prepare  for  an  immediate  marriage.  The  heiress 
protests,  but  her  guardian  remains  obdurate.  Sylvia  begins 
to  prepare  for  flight  as  soon  as  he  has  left  her,  and  we  are  soon 
aware  from  her  remarks  to  her  maid  that  the  scene  has 


154  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

changed  to  her  chamber,  even  though  she  has  not  left  the 
stage.  Then  the  curtains,  which  have  been  open  all  this  time, 
though  most  of  the  action  has  been  in  front  of  them,  now- 
close  as  she  goes  out  through  the  door  marked  'Rome,' 
but  only  to  re-enter  through  'Africa.'  From  her  words  on 
'this  forest  dark,'  'these  mighty  trees, '  we  notice  that  the 
scene  has  again  shifted.  But  in  following  Sylvia  we  did  not 
notice  a  boy  steal  through  the  door  into  one  of  the  hollow 
trees.  Now  Sylvia  appeals  to  the  gods  for  help,  and  he  steps 
forth,  a  wood  nymph,  and  leads  her  off  the  stage  to  find 
seclusion  in  the  depths  of  the  forest.  The  scene  returns  to 
the  city  again,  and  we  hear  the  guardian  directing  his  son  to 
pursue  the  escaped  maiden.  They  sit  at  the  table,  and  the 
father  very  carefully  maps  out  his  son's  journey.  The 
foolish  boy  and  his  father  both  leave  the  stage,  but  the  boy 
immediately  appears  through  the  other  door,  and  is,  we  learn, 
lost  in  the  forest.  He  hears  outlaws  coming,  and  for  conceal- 
ment climbs  into  the  shelter  of  a  leafy  tree.  The  outlaws 
discover  him,  and  making  him  descend,  tie  him  to  the  tree 
and  leave  him  alone.  Here  his  father  fortunately  finds  him, 
and  together  they  continue  the  pursuit.  After  a  short  scene 
in  the  city  again,  Sylvia  appears,  explaining  how  she  has  left 
the  forest  and  taken  refuge  in  this  desert.  Here,  however,  a 
disguised  prince  meets  her  and  falls  in  love  with  her,  intro- 
ducing in  his  passionate  appeal  references  to  'these  shaggy 
trees.' 

"  So  the  first  act  closes.  The  orchestra  plays,  and  a  clown 
enters  and  jigs.  But  during  that  amusement  a  great  chair 
with  a  canopy  above  it  comes  creaking  down  from  the  '  heav- 
ens '  It  is  the  throne  of  the  prince's  father,  and  the  young 
gallants  are  made  to  rise  and  move  their  stools  closer  together. 
More  stools  are  brought  in  and  placed  about  the  throne.  The 
next  scene  is  obviously  to  be  one  of  importance  and  likely  to 
tax  the  capacity  of  the  stage.  It  will,  indeed,  for  the  court  is 
to  be  represented,  and  the  whole  strength  of  the  company  is 
required,  and  the  stage  with  this  crowd  of  actors  and  specta- 
tors combined  is  too  small  for  the  trees  to  be  left  upon  it.  So, 
since  the  forest  scenes  are  over  and  their  room  is  more  valu- 


APPENDIX  155 

able  than  their  presence,  they  are  taken  through  the  door  into 
the  storeroom.  With  their  disappearance  our  interest  in  the 
performance  ends,  and  we  leave  it  to  work  itself  out  in  the 
only  too  well-known  way  to  its  happy  conclusion.  " 1 

Here  is  an  unmistakeable  picture  of  an  incongruous  stage. 
Tables,  chairs,  trees,  bushes,  thrones,  etc.  are  all  crowded  on 
one  platform  at  the  same  time.  Trees  or  what  not  are  carried 
off  and  other  properties  brought  on  in  full  view  of  the  audi- 
ence. This  is  interesting  because  it  is  so  different  from  our 
stage  conditions  to-day,  but  is  it  a  word  picture  of  a  typical 
Shaksperian  performance?  To  answer  this,  we  turn  to  his 
arguments. 

Much  of  his  support  for  the  incongruous  stage  rests  upon 
his  idea  that  the  English  people  were  from  early  times  schooled 
in  such  conditions.  He  remarks  at  the  outset  that  "instead 
of  its  seeming  unreasonable  and  impossible  to  Englishmen  to 
have  incongruous  properties  on  the  stage,  it  was  quite  an 
accustomed  thing,  something  they  had  long  been  used  to — 
pre-Elizabethan  staging  exhibited  this  same  incongruity." 
He  does  not  discuss  the  staging  of  the  interludes — the  imme- 
diate predecessors  of  the  regular  Elizabethan  plays — but 
centers  his  attention  on  the  miracles  and  long  moralities. 
But  even  here  he  does  not  show  us  one  English  play  in  which 
"a  tree  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  room  scene."  One  of  his 
principal  illustrations  of  incongruous  staging  is  Mary  Magda- 
lene. How  different  the  stage  of  this  play  is  from  his  conception 
of  the  Elizabethan  stage  may  be  seen  by  comparing  the  draw- 
ing opposite  page  16  with  his  word  picture  in  "Trees"  on  the 
Stage  of  Shakespeare.  But  lest  my  reconstruction  of  the  stage 
of  Mary  Magdalene  be  wrong,  I  will  turn  to  the  stage-plan  of 
The  Castle  of  Perseverance,  about  which  there  can  be  no  mis- 
take. In  the  center  stands  the  castle  with  five  scaffolds 
stationed  around  it — on   the  north  Belial   scaffold,  on   the 

»G.  F.  Reynolds,  "'Trees'  on  the  Stage  of  Shakespeare,"  Modern 
Philology,  October,  1907.  It  may  be  worth  remarking  that  his  ar- 
rangement of  scenes  in  this  imaginary  play  is  not  Elizabethan.  On 
this  point  see  Robert  Prolss,  Von  den  altesten  Drucken  der  Dramen 
Shakspeares. 


156  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

northeast  Covetise  scaffold,  on  the  east  Deus  scaffold,  on  the 
south  Cam  scaffold,  and  on  the  west  Mundus  scaffold.  Here 
are  six  distinct  stages,  each  one  having  just  such  scenes  as  are 
appropriate  to  its  setting.  There  is  no  medley  here,  no 
confusion  of  locations, — no  tree  in  the  midst  of  a  room  scene. 
The  homes  represented  by  the  different  scaffolds  are  per- 
haps closer  together  than  in  real  life,  but  a  space  of  forty  to 
fifty  feet  between  each  sedes  is  sufficient  in  this  mimic  world  to 
keep  the  localities  clearly  distinguished.  Dr.  Reynolds  does 
not  mention  The  Castle  of  Perseverance,  though  its  stage-plan 
is  a  corner-stone  in  pre-Shaksperian  staging,  but  his  proof  of 
incongruity  from  Mary  Magdalene  is  overthrown  by  the  dia- 
gram accompanying  The  Castle,  as  the  two  plays  were  cer- 
tainly staged  in  the  same  fashion.  In  short,  his  arguments 
for  incongruity  from  the  miracles  and  long  moralities  amount 
to  little  more  than  a  misconception  and  misappreciation  of 
pre-Elizabethan  staging. 

Taking  up  the  Elizabethan  drama,  Dr.  Reynolds  points  out 
in  plays  ranging  in  date  of  publication  from  1584  to  1633,  but 
supposedly  written  before  1603,  a  number  of  incongruities; 
in  eighteen  plays  one  incongruity  each,  in  seven  plays 
two  incongruities  each,  and  in  nine  plays  three  or  more  in- 
congruities each.  This  seems  like  a  goodly  number  of  incon- 
gruities, but  when  we  consider  that  in  the  extant  plays  before 
1603  there  are  perhaps  a  thousand  scenes,  this  number  hardly 
seems  sufficient  for  the  establishment  of  hard  and  fast  princi- 
ples for  the  playing  of  all.  But  barring  this  objection,  we 
hasten  to  examine  as  many  of  his  illustrations  of  incongruity 
as  space  will  permit. 

"Romeo  and  Juliet  (quarto  2,  1599;  4.  undated;  folio,  1623), 
I,  4,  5.  Romeo  and  his  friends  are  at  first  before  the  house  of 
Capulet,  but  with  the  direction,  *  They  march  about  the  Stage, 
and  Serving  men  come  forth  with  their  napkins,'  the  scene 
changes  to  the  interior  of  the  house."  According  to  the  cus- 
tom in  Elizabethan  and  Restoration  staging,  which  has  been 
fully  explained  above  in  Chapters  IV-VI,  the  curtains,  which 
had  been  closed,  were  drawn  at  this  point;  and  with  room 
properties  on  the  inner  stage,  which  doubtless  the  servants 


APPENDIX  157 

proceeded  hastily  to  arrange  over  any  part  of  the  stage  before 
the  company  entered  to  the  masque,  the  whole  stage  took  the 
appearance  of  a  room  in  Capulet's  house. 

"Dido  (1594),  I|  i,l.  120:  The  scene  up  to  this  point  is  not 
definitely  located  at  all,  but  since  it  is  between  Jupiter,  Venus, 
and  Ganymede,  one  would  naturally  assume  it  to  be  upon 
Olympus.  It  certainly  is  not  in  the  midst  of  a  wood  on  the 
seashore  near  Carthage,  where  the  action  from  that  point  on 
is  situated."  This  is  demanding  even  more  than  we  would 
to-day.  A  sylvan  scene  is  entirely  appropriate  here  for  the 
gods,  and  no  one  takes  a  thought  of  its  exact  location  until 
Aeneas  appears  on  the  stage.  We  would  play  the  scenes  in 
the  same  way  on  the  modern  stage. 

"Iron  Age  (1632),  p.  379:  The  Greek  soldiers  are  besieging 
Troy.  '  Now  with  a  soft  march  enter  at  this  breach,'  they  say. 
'They  march  softly  in  at  one  doore,  and  presently  in  [out1]  at 
another.'  After  this  direction  the  scene  is  near  the  wooden 
horse,  which  stands  within  the  city."  This  is  very  plain. 
The  audience  knows  that  the  horse  is  inside  the  walls.  After 
the  soldiers  have  made  their  way  through  the  "breach"  (one 
of  the  proscenium  doors — curtains  closed)  the  curtains  draw 
revealing  the  wooden  horse,  and  the  men  rush  out  through 
the  inner  stage.  The  presence  of  the  horse  gives  the  appear- 
ance of  a  scene  within  the  city. 

The  illustration  from  the  1604  edition  of  Doctor  Faustus 
certainly  shows  one  case  of  incongruous  staging  if  the  text  is 
genuine.  But  I  do  not  believe  this  edition  is  reliable.  After 
Faustus  has  entertained  the  emperor  in  the  palace  with 
his  magic  tricks,  he  says  he  will  walk  across  "this  fair  and 
pleasant  green"  to  Wittenberg,  but  just  as  he  utters  the  last 
word,  in  comes  the  horse-courser,  apparently  in  Faustus's 
study.  The  161 6  version  has  not  this  absurd  situation,  and, 
I  believe,  comes  nearer  representing  the  acting  edition. 

"English  Traveler  (1633),  IV,  3,  p.  66:  'Tables  and 
stools  set  out;  Lights:  a  Banquet,  Wine.'     At  the  end  of  the 

1  The  explanatory  out  is  in  the  wrong  place  here;  it  should  follow 
the  first  in  in  this  stage  direction.  In  is  regularly  used  for  coming 
on  the  stage  and  out  for  going  off. 


158  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

banquet  all  the  family  retire  to  their  chambers,  but  a  guest, 
Geraldine,  is  left  to  rest  on  a  pallet.  He  cannot  sleep  and 
decides  to  seek  the  room  of  his  hostess.  'He  goes  in  at  one 
doore,  and  comes  out  at  another'  (p.  69).  The  scene,  in 
spite  of  the  continued  presence  of  the  pallet,  and  perhaps 
of  the  table,  is  now  plainly  in  the  corridor  before  the  bedroom. 
He  listens  at  the  door,  hears  voices  within,  and  decides  to 
leave  the  house."  There  is  no  need  here  for  a  change  of 
scene.  The  sleeping  room  of  Mrs.  Wincott  is  just  off  the 
large  hall-room  in  which  the  dialogue  between  the  two  men 
takes  place.  Perhaps  Geraldine  went  off  the  inner  stage, 
and  returning  through  one  of  the  proscenium  doors,  made 
his  way  to  the  other  which  was  supposed  to  open  into 
the  lady's  chamber.  The  position  of  the  proscenium  door 
gave  the  hero  a  conspicuous  place  on  the  stage  for  this  emo- 
tional scene.  There  is,  of  course,  a  possibility  that  the  cur- 
tains closed,  shutting  off  all  properties,  at  the  exit  of  Geraldine 
from  the  inner  stage ;  and  on  his  return  through  the  proscenium 
door,  the  stage  presented  the  appearance  of  a  corridor  before 
the  bedroom. 

"  George-a-Greene  [Pinner  of  Wakefield]  (1599),  11,  1037, 1038. 
The  shoemaker  seated  at  his  work  sees  Jenkins  and  picks  a 
fight  with  him,  which  is  to  occur  at  the  town's  end.  '  Come, 
sir,  wil  you  go  to  the  townes  end  now  sir?'  'I  sir,  come.' 
In  this  interval  they  are  supposed  to  go.  The  line  continues: 
'  Now  we  are  at  the  townes  end,  what  say  you  now? ' "  I  have 
already  given  an  explanation  of  this  scene  on  page  124. 

"[/]  //  You  Know  not  Me  You  Know  Nobody  (1605),  p. 
224:  The  scene  opens  with  a  great  procession.  'Queen 
takes  state' — that  is,  she  ascends  her  throne;  after  which 
she  pardons  her  enemies  and  oppressors.  When  this  is  over, 
Elizabeth  says:  'And  now  to  London,  lords,  lead  on  the  way.' 
1  Sennet  about  the  stage  in  order, '  is  the  following  direction. 
Then  the  mayor  of  London  meets  them,  saying,  '"I  from 
this  citie  London,"  bring  gifts.'"  The  curtains  close  during 
the  "Sennet  about  the  stage  in  order, "  and  the  throne  and  all 
properties  being  cut  off  from  view,  the  stage  becomes  an  un- 
located  place — perhaps  the  road  to  London. 


APPENDIX  159 

Eastward  Ho,  IV.  The  succession  of  scenes  in  this  act  is  not 
incongruous  when  properly  understood:  Scene  i.  Outer 
scene  and  gallery.  Curtains  closed — gallery  curtains  open — 
doors  open.  Slitgut  in  a  tree  in  the  gallery  sees  ' '  a  boat  cast 
away  hard  by"  and  a  little  later  a  lady  shipwrecked  at  St. 
Katherine's.  Scene  2.  Outer  scene.  All  curtains  closed — one 
door  closed.  A  drawer  brings  Winifred  to  the  tavern,  which 
is  entered  by  the  closed  proscenium  door.  Scene  3.  Same  as 
Scene  1.  Slitgut  sees  another  "a  taking  up  at  Wapping  now." 
Scene  4.  Outer  scene.  All  curtains  closed — doors  open. 
Three  shipwrecked  men  meet.  Scene  5.  Same  as  Scene  2. 
Winifred  coming  out  of  the  tavern  meets  her  husband. 
Scene  6.  Same  as  Scene  1.  Slitgut  completes  his  mission  at 
Cuckold's  Haven  and  departs.  Scene  7.  A  room  in  Touch- 
stone's house.  Inner  scene.  Gallery  curtains  closed — cur- 
tains drawn — doors  closed — room  setting  on  inner  stage — 
action  on  both  stages.  The  runaways  are  brought  to  justice 
before  Master  Golding. 

The  scenes  in  Sapho  and  Phao  are  easily  staged  if  we  place 
Vulcan's  shop  inside  one  of  the  proscenium  doors,  and  re- 
present the  cave  scenes  by  drawing  the  curtains  just  a  little 
in  tent-like  fashion.  In  Parisitaster  the  tree  referred  to  in 
Acts  IV-V  was  probably  not  on  the  stage  at  all.  Its  par- 
ticular kind,  location,  and  appearance  are  all  described,  which 
would  be  hardly  necessary  if  it  was  visible  to  the  audience. 
In  Alphonsus,  King  of  Aragon,  Act  III,  2-3,  the  curtains  closed 
at  the  exit  of  the  Great  Turk,  and  during  the  soliloquy  of 
Fausta  the  inner  stage  was  changed — throne  removed  and 
trees  set  in  its  place.  The  chairs  mentioned  in  /  Tamburlaine, 
IV,  2,  and  Alphonsus,  King  of  Aragon,  II,  1,  were,  I  believe,  a 
kind  of  carrying-chair  or  triumphal  chariot  in  which  a  con- 
queror was  often  carried  or  pulled;  and  as  such  would  be 
perfectly  in  place  in  outdoor  scenes.  The  carrying-chair  is 
occasionally  used  to-day  in  Shaksperian  performances.  Old 
Wives  Tale  and  Faery  Pastoral  were  not  written  to  be  played 
according  to  the  regular  method  of  staging,  and  must  there- 
fore be  barred  in  a  study  of  principles  of  Elizabethan  staging. 

In  conclusion.     Considering  the  number  of  extant  plays 


160  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

written  before  1603  and  the  fact  that  the  regular  stage  was 
yet  in  its  infancy,  we  should  not  be  greatly  surprised  if  the 
scenes  which  Dr.  Reynolds  has  selected  after  an  examination 
of  "practically  every  extant  play  accessible  to  students, 
published  between  1559  and  1603,"  were  incongruous.  But 
I  believe  that  the  majority  of  these  were  not  incongruous 
when  the  Elizabethan  stage  and  its  working  are  properly 
understood.  There  were,  as  we  have  already  said,  a  great 
deal  of  crudity  and  many  incongruities  in  the  Elizabethan 
drama,  but  incongruity —  "as  a  tree,  for  example,  in  the 
midst  of  a  room  scene" — never  existed  as  a  principle  of  either 
pre-Elizabethan  or  Elizabethan  staging. 

Dr.  Wegener's  thesis  is  the  most  thorough  study  that 
has  heretofore  been  made  on  the  Elizabethan  stage  and  staging. 
He  has  reconstructed  a  stage  not  from  Shakspere's  plays 
alone  nor  from  the  plays  of  a  certain  part  of  the  period 
1 5 76-1 648,  but  from  a  complete  survey  of  the  Elizabethan 
drama. 

He  conceives  of  three  types  of  stages  in  regular  use  in  the 
Elizabethan  period, — public,  private,  and  court.  For  a 
typical  public  stage  he  would  make,  in  the  main,  but  one 
addition  to  the  De  Witt  drawing  of  the  Swan  theater,  namely, 
the  "unterbiihne,"  or  understage.  He  would  cut  away  part 
of  the  rear  wall,  as  shown  in  the  Swan  picture,  between  the 
two  doors,  and  thus  reveal  a  room  under  the  gallery.  This 
extra  space,  closed  and  revealed  by  a  curtain  suspended  from 
the  outer  edge  of  the  gallery,  would  serve  as  the  study  in  Lord 
Cromwell,  Dr.  Faustus,  etc. ;  as  an  arbor  in  Spanish  Tragedy, 
Broken  Heart,  etc. ;  as  the  cell  of  a  monk  in  Friar  Bacon  and 
Friar  Bungay,  etc. ;  as  a  counting  room  or  business  room  in 
Jew  of  Malta,  etc. ;  as  a  schoolroom  in  How  a  Alan  May 
Choose  a  Good  Wife  from  a  Bad,  etc. ;  as  a  sleeping  or  sick  room 
in  Witch  of  Edmonton,  Giovana  and  Annabella,  Broken  Heart, 
etc. ;  and  as  the  place  for  many  other  similar  scenes.  On  the 
private  stage,  that  of  the  Blackfriars  in  particular,  there  were 
the  same  stage-regions,  "hauptbiihne, "  " unterbiihne, "  and 
"oberbuhne,"  but  there  was  possibly  also  the  important  ad- 
dition of  a  middle  curtain  which  divided  the  "hauptbiihne" 


APPENDIX  161 

into  two  parts, — "  vorderbuhne  "  and  "hinterbuhne."  This 
curtain  would  allow  the  properties  on  the  rear  half  of  the  main 
stage  to  be  brought  on  and  removed  out  of  sight  of  the  audi- 
ence ;  but  there  would  be  no  playing  on  the  front  half  during 
the  change,  as  there  were  no  proscenium  doors  to  this  space. 
The  court  stage  contained  a  front  curtain  which  completely- 
concealed  from  the  auditory  all  scene-shifting. 

This  gradation  from  the  public  to  the  court  stage  seems 
at  first  glance  a  perfectly  natural  one,  but  it  leads  to  a  most 
glaring  inconsistency  when  the  staging  is  considered.  On 
the  public  stage  trees  and  many  other  properties  were  on 
the  "hauptbuhne,"  and  were  set  and  removed  in  full  view  of 
the  audience;  on  the  private  stage,  if  the  middle  curtain  was 
used,  the  majority  of  the  properties  were  on  the  "hinter- 
buhne," and  therefore  changed  behind  closed  curtains;  on 
the  court  stage  all  scene-shifting  took  place  behind  the  front 
curtain.  Some  theater-goers  witnessed  plays  on  all  three 
stages,  and  many  attended  both  the  Globe  and  the  Black- 
friars.  Now  if  incongruity  was  rife  on  the  public  stage — if 
woods  and  other  settings  were  hauled  on  and  off  before  their 
eyes —  why  should  they  demand  a  curtain  at  the  private  and 
court  theaters?  Or  if  they  were  used  to  an  unseen  change  at 
Whitehall  and  Blackfriars,  how  could  they  tolerate  the  confu- 
sion, disturbance,  and  incongruity  of  setting  and  re-setting  the 
stage  at  the  Globe  ?  Gradations  of  incongruity,  gradations  of 
congruity  are  conceivable,  but  a  sudden  change  from  the  one 
to  the  other  is  inconceivable.  If  the  middle-curtain  theory 
is  disposed  of,  and  the  regular  setting  on  both  the  public  and 
the  private  stage  is  placed  on  the  inner  stage,  the  change  in  the 
staging  of  a  play  at  the  Globe  and  a  masque  at  the  court  is, 
in  the  main,  one  of  degree,  not  of  kind. 

Dr.  Wegener  saw  clearly  enough  that  a  curtained  space  was 
needed  on  the  public  stage,  but  he  failed  to  comprehend  the 
full  significance  of  this  "unterbuhne. "  He  conceived  of  it  as 
a  special  place  for  the  representation  of  such  scenes  as  school- 
rooms, studies,  monks'  cells,  and  the  like;  that  is,  as  a  third 
stage  which  the  dramatist  could  make  use  of  at  any  time,  just 
as  he  could  of  the  "oberbuhne. "     If  my  thesis  carries  any 


132  THE  SHAKSPERIAN  STAGE 

weight,  it  shows  that  the  inner  stage  was  not  a  stage  in  itself, 
but  that  it  became  a  part  of  the  outer  stage  the  minute  the 
curtains  were  drawn.  The  inner  stage  extended  across 
the  rear  of  the  outer  stage,  and  with  its  properties  gave  the 
whole  stage  the  appearance  of  a  set  scene,  while  in  itself  it 
contained  little  of  the  important  action.  In  short,  it  was 
an  ever-present  and  an  all-important  factor  in  the  Elizabethan 
system  of  staging. 

Space  does  not  permit  a  review  of  the  many  shorter  articles 
on  the  stage,  but  a  few  words  must  be  said  about  a  recent 
article, — The  Elizabethan  Stage  by  William  Archer.1  This  is 
one  of  the  most  original  and  enlightening  articles  on  the 
Shaksperian  stage  that  has  yet  appeared.  His  conception  of 
the  material  stage  is  so  nearly  like  my  own  that  it  would  be 
useless  to  point  out  the  slight  differences.  Mr.  Archer  is 
perhaps  the  most  competent  man  living  to  study  the  Eliza- 
bethan stage.  As  a  learned  dramatic  critic  of  to-day,  he 
approaches  the  Elizabethan  stage  with  that  special  insight  and 
ability  which  a  closet  student  cannot  hope  to  have.  The 
stage  and  staging  have  changed  since  the  days  of  Shakspere, 
but  the  mimic  world  is  still  the  mimic  world ;  and  the  deeper 
the  scholar  is  grounded  in  the  stage  of  to-day,  the  better  he  is 
qualified  to  study  the  stage  of  yesterday. 

»  Quarterly  Review,  April,  1908,  pp.  442-471. 


CRITICAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Note. — I  do  not  give  a  bibliography  on  the  pre-Shaksperian 
stage.  A  complete  one  will  be  found  in  the  first  volume  of 
E.  K.  Chambers'  Mediaeval  Stage. 

Biographical  Chronicle  of  the  English  Drama,  A,  1559-1642. 

F.  G.  Fleay.     2  vols.     1891. 
Buhne  Shakespeares,  Zur.      W.  Bang.     Shakespeare   Jahr- 

buch,  vol.  xl. 
Buhneneinrichtung  des  Shakespeareschen  Theaters  nach  den 

zeitgenossischen  Dramen.     Richard  Wegener.     1907. 
Children  of  the  Chapel  at  Blackfriars.     C.W.Wallace.     1908. 
Chronicle  History  of  the  London  Stage,  1 559-1642,  A.     F.  G. 

Fleay.     1890. 
Contemporary  Drawing  of  the  Swan  Theatre,  On  a.       H.  B. 

Wheatley.     New  Sh.  Soc.  Trans.,  1887-92. 
Dekoration  der  modernen  Buhne  in  Italien   ...  bis    zum 

Schluss  des  XVI  Jahrhunderts,  Die.     E.  Flechsig.     1894. 
Development  of  Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatist,  The.     G.  P. 

Baker.     1907. 
Early  French  Players  in  England.     W.  J.  Lawrence.     Anglia, 

vol.  xxxii. 
Early  London  Theatres.     T.  F.  Ordish.     1894. 
Elizabethan  Drama,   1558-1642.     F.  E.  Schelling.     2  vols. 

1908. 
Elizabethan  Stage,  The.    William  Archer.    Quarterly  Review, 

April,  1908. 
Elizabethan  Stage  Scenery.     Mrs.  C.  C.  Stopes.     Fortnightly 

Review,  June,  1907. 
Elizabethan  Stage  Theories.     The  London  Times,  November 

3>  i9°5- 
England  as  Seen  by  a  Foreigner.     W.  B.  Rye.     1865. 
163 


164  CRITICAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Englische  Komodianten  am  Hofe  des  Herzogs  Philipp  Julius 
von  Pommern-Wolgast.  C.  F.  Meyer.  Shakespeare 
Jahrbuch,  vol.  xxxviii. 

Englischen  Biihne  um  1600,  Zur.  Carl  Grabau.  Shake- 
speare Jahrbuch,  vol.  xxxviii. 

Extracts  from  the  Accounts  of  the  Revels  at  the  Court  in  the 
Reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  King  James  I.  Ed.  P.  Cunning- 
ham, Old  Sh.  Soc,  1842. 

First  Performance  in  Shakespeare's  Time,  A.  Herbert  W. 
Fisher.     Atlantic  Monthly,  March,  1898. 

Forgotten  Stage  Conventionality,  A.  W.  J.  Lawrence. 
Anglia,  vol.  xxvi. 

Fortune  Theatre,  The.  William  Archer.  London  Tribune, 
Oct.  12,  1907.  Repr.  New  Shakespeariana,  Oct.,  1908; 
Shakespeare  Jahrbuch,  1908. 

Gull's  Hornbook,  The.  Thomas  Dekker.  1609.  Ed.  by  G. 
F.  Nott,  1812. 

Hamlet  on  an  Elizabethan  Stage.  G.  P.  Baker.  Shakespeare 
Jahrbuch,  vol.  xli.' 

Handbook  of  London.     P.Cunningham.     2  vols.     1849. 

Historia  Histrionica,  an  Account  of  the  English  Stage. 
James  Wright.  1699.  Repr.  in  Hazlitt's  Dodsley,  vol. 
xv. 

Historical  Account  of  the  English  Stage.  Edmund  Malone. 
1805. 

Historical  Novel,  The.     Brander  Matthews.     1901. 

History  of  English  Dramatic  Literature  to  the  Death  of 
Queen  Anne,  A.     A.  W.  Ward.     2d  ed.   3  vols.     1899. 

History  of  English  Dramatic  Poetry  to  the  Time  of  Shake- 
speare: and  Annals  of  the  Stage  to  the  Restoration. 
J.    P.   Collier.     3  vols.     1831.     New  ed.,  1879. 

History  of  the  London  Stage  and  its  Famous  Players.  H. 
Barton  Baker.     1904. 

History  of  Theatres  in  London  from  their  first  opening  in 
1576  to  their  closing  in  1642.  F.  G.  Fleay.  Royal 
Historical  Society  Transactions,  vol.  10. 

History  of  Theatrical  Art  in  Ancient  and  Modern  Times,  A. 
By  Karl  Mantzius.     With  an  Introduction  by  William 


CRITICAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY  165 

Archer.     Authorized  Translation  by  Louise  von  Cossel. 
5  vols.,  1903-09. 

Influence  of  Theatrical  Conditions  on  Shakespeare,  The. 
E.  E.  Hale,  Jr.     Modern  Philology,  vol.  i. 

Kenntnis  der  altenglischen  Buhne,  Zur.    K.  T.  Gaedertz.  1888. 

Lateinischen  Universitats-Dramen  in  der  Zeit  der  Konigen 
Elizabeth,  Die.  G.  B.  Churchill  and  W.  Keller.  Shake- 
speare Jahrbuch,  vol.  xxxiv. 

London.     Walter  Besant.     1892. 

London  Past  and  Present.     H.  B.  Wheatley.     3  vols.     1891. 

Londoner  Theater  und  Schauspiele  im  Jahre  1599.  G.  Binz. 
Anglia,  vol.  xxii. 

Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  A.  Ed.  G.  P.  Baker.  1895. 
Introduction. 

Mounting  of  the  Stuart  Masques,  The.  W.  J.  Lawrence.  The 
English  Illustrated  Magazine,  November,  1903. 

Music  in  the  Elizabethan  Theatre.  W.  J.  Lawrence.  Shake- 
speare Jahrbuch,  1908. 

Neue  Art  Shakespeare  zu  spielen,  Eine.  A.  Brandl. 
Deutsche  Rundschau,  April,  1905. 

Neue  Shakespeare- Buhne,  Eine.  Ernst  Lepold  Stahl.  Shake- 
speare Jahrbuch,  1908. 

New  History  of  the  English  Stage,  from  the  Restoration  to 
the  Liberty  of  the  Theatres,  A.  P.  H.  Fitzgerald.  2  vols. 
1882. 

Nochmals  zur  Buhne  Shakespeares.  W.  Keller.  Shakespeare 
Jahrbuch,  vol.  xl. 

Outlines  of  the  Life  of  Shakespeare.  J.  O.  Halliwell-Phillipps. 
2  vols.    9th  ed.,  1892. 

Plays  and  Poems  of  William  Shakspeare  with  the  Corrections 
and  Illustrations  of  Various  Commentators.  Edmund 
Malone.     21  vols.     182 1. 

Prolegomena  zu  einer  Darstellung  der  englischen  Volksbiihne 
zur  Elizabeth-und  Stuart-Zeit  nach  den  alten  Buhnen- 
Anweisungen.     Paul  Monkemeyer.     1905. 

Richard  II  Performed  at  the  University  of  London  by  the 
Elizabethan  Stage  Society,  Nov.  n,  1899.  Athenaeum, 
Nov.  18,  1899. 


166  CRITICAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Roscius  Anglicanus;  or,  an  Historical  Review  of  the  Stage 
from  1660  to  1706.  John  Downes.  Ed.  Joseph  Knight, 
1886. 

Scenischen  Formen  Shakespeare's,  Die.  Eugen  Kilian. 
Shakespeare  Jahrbuch,  vol.  xxviii. 

Scenischen  Formen  Shakespeare's  in  ihrem  Verhaltnisse  zur 
Buhne  seiner  Zeit,  Ueber  die.  R.  Gene"e.  Shakespeare 
Jahrbuch,  vol.  xxvi. 

Seeing  an  Elizabethan  Play,  and  Some  Particular  Discourse 
on  the  Knight  of  the  Burning  Pestle,  On.     1903. 

Shakespeare  and  His  Times.     N.  Drake.     1817. 

Shakespeare  and  Mr.  Barrie  :  The  Tempest :  Performance  by 
The  Elizabethan  Stage  Society  at  the  Mansion  House, 
November  5,  1897.  The  Little  Minister:  A  Play  in  Four 
Acts.  By  J.  M.  Barrie.  .  .  .  Haymarket  Theatre,  No- 
vember 6,  1897.  G.  B.  S.fhaw].  Saturday  Review, 
London,  November  13,  1897. 

Shakespeare  and  the  Modern  Stage.  Sidney  Lee.  Nine- 
teenth Century,  January,  1900. 

Shakespeare  and  the  Plastic  Stage.  John  Corbin.  Atlantic 
Monthly,  March,  1906. 

Shakespeare  auf  der  Modernen  Buhne.  Eugen  Kilian. 
Shakespeare  Jahrbuch,  vol.  xxxvi. 

Shakespeare-Buhne  nach  den  alten  Biihnenanweisungen,  Die. 
Cecil  Brodmeier.     1904. 

Shakespeare  in  France.     J.  J.  Jusserand.     1898. 

Shakespeare  on  the  Stage  in  the  Elizabethan  Manner.  Wil- 
liam Poel.  The  Times,  London,  Literary  Supplement, 
June  2,  1905. 

Shakespeare's  London;  a  Study  of  London  in  the  Reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth.     T.  F.  Ordish.     1897. 

Shakspere's  London.     H.  T.  Stephenson.     1905. 

Shakspere's  Predecessors  in  the  English  Drama.  J.  A. 
Symonds.     1884. 

Sixteenth  Century  Playhouse,  A.  William  Archer.  Univer- 
sal Review,  June,  1888. 

Some  Account  of  the  English  Stage  from  the  Restoration  in 
1660  to  1830.     J.  Genest.     10  vols.     1832. 


CRITICAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY  167 

Some  Characteristics  of  the  Elizabethan-Stuart  Stage.     W. 

J.  Lawrence.     Englische  Studien,  vol.  xxxii. 
Some  Principles  of  Elizabethan  Staging.     G.  F.   Reynolds. 

Modern  Philology,  April  and  June,  1905. 
Stage  History  of  Richard  III.     Alice  I.  Perry  Wood. 
Stage  of  the  Globe,  The.     E.  K.  Chambers,  1907.     (In  the 

Works  of  William  Shakespeare,  vol.  x.) 
Staging  of  Shakespeare,  The.    A  Defense  of  the  Public  Taste. 

H.  Beerbohm  Tree.     Fortnightly  Review,  July,  1900. 
Staging  of  Shakespeare,   The.     A  Reply   to   Mr.  Beerbohm 

Tree.     W.  Hughes  Hallett.     Fortnightly  Review,   Sep- 
tember, 1900. 
Staging  of  Shakespeare,  The:  a  Rejoinder.       Arthur  Dillon. 

Westminster  Review,  October,  1900. 
Survey   of    London.     John   Stow.     1598.     Enlarged   by   A. 

Munday  and  J.  Strype  in  1724. 
"Trees"   on  the   Stage  of  Shakespeare.     G.   F.    Reynolds. 

Modern  Philology,  October,  1907. 
William  Shakespeare.     George  Brandes.     1896.     Translation 

by  William  Archer.     2  vols.     1898. 


LIST  OF  PLAYS 

Note. — I  have  used  in  my  essay  the  editions  of  plays  which 
were  accessible  to  me.  Most  of  the  modern  editions  are  found 
in  Columbia  University  Library,  and  as  a  usual  thing  I  have 
consulted  all  of  them;  but  in  the  following  list,  I  give  only  the 
edition  which  I  have  used  most  frequently.  I  have  not  had 
access  to  many  quartos  and  folios,  and  have  verified  only  a 
few  of  the  most  important  quotations.  Some  quotations  must 
therefore  be  wrong.  I  have,  however,  used  all  the  care  and 
judgment  possible  in  selecting  them,  and  I  do  not  believe 
that  many  of  them  will  be  found  to  differ  materially  from 
the  quartos  and  folios. 

In  this  list  the  following  abbreviations  are  used :  Anon.  = 
anonymous;  W.  =written;  A.  =acted;  S.R.  =entered  in  the 
Stationers'  Register;  P.  =published;  L.  =  Licensed. 

Adam.  Anon.  MS.  "belongs  to  the  twelfth  or  the  thir- 
teenth century."  Excerpts  from  the  stage  directions 
are  found  in  E.  K.  Chambers,  The  Mediaeval  Stage, 
pp.  80-81. 

Albion  Knight.  Anon.  A.  c.  1560.  S.R.  1565-6.  Anonymous 
Plays,  Second  Series,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1906. 

Alcibiades.  Thomas  Otway.  A.  1675.  The  Works  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Otway;  in  3  Volumes  Consisting  of  His  Plays, 
Poems,  and  Letters,  1758.     Vol.  i. 

Alphonsus,  King  of  Aragon.  Robert  Greene.  A.  before  1589. 
P.  1599.  The  Plays  and  Poems  of  Robert  Greene,  J. 
Churton  Collins.     2  vols.,  1905.     Vol.  i. 

Alphonsus,  King  of  Germany.     George  Chapman(?)     A.  1592 
(?).  P.  1654.  The  Comedies  and  Tragedies  of  George  Chap- 
man, Now  First  Collected,  etc.,  3  vols.,  1873.     Vol.  iii. 
168 


LIST  OF  PLAYS  169 

Amboyna.    John  Dryden.    A.  1673.   The  Comedies,  Tragedies, 

and  Operas.    Written  by  Mr.  John  Dryden,  Esq. ;  now  first 

collected  together,  and  corrected  from  the  originals,  1701. 
Amphitryon.     John     Dryden.     A.     1690.     The    edition     of 

Dryden's  Works  quoted  above. 
Amphitryon.    Plautus.     The  Comedies  of  Plautus,   literally 

translated  into  English  prose,  with  notes,  by  H.  T.  Riley. 

2  vols.,  1902.     Vol.  ii. 
Andria.    Terence.     The  Comedies  of  Terence  and  the  Fables 

of  Phaedrus,  literally  translated  into  English  prose,  by 

H.  T.  Riley,  1906. 
II  Antonio  and  Mellida.    John  Marston.     A.    1600.     P.  1602. 

The  Works  of   John  Marston,  A.  H.  Bullen.      3  vols., 

1887.     Vol.  i. 
Appius    and    Virginia.     R.    Bower.     W.    c.    1563 (?).     S.R. 

1567-8.     P.     1575.    Anonymous  Plays,     Fourth  Series, 

J.  S.  Farmer,  1908. 
Author's  Farce.     Henry  Fielding.      A.  1730.      The  Theatre, 

1730.     Vol.  xiv. 
Barnavelt.     Fletcher  and  Massinger.     A.  1619.     Old  English 

Plays,  A.  H.  Bullen.     4  vols.,  1882-5.     Vol.  ii. 
Bartholomew  Fair.     Ben  Jonson.     A.  161 4.     P.  1631.     The 

Works  of  Mr.  Ben  Jonson,  Gifford-Cunningham.    3  vols. 

1904.     Vol.  ii. 
Beggar's  Bush.    Fletcher  and  Massinger.    A.  c.  1615.    P.  1647. 

The  Works  of  Mr.  Francis   Beaumont,  and   Mr.   John 

Fletcher,  in  ten  Volumes,  by  the  Late  Mr.  Theobald,  Mr. 

Seward  of  Eyam  in  Derbyshire,  and  Mr.  Sympson  of  Gains- 
borough, 1750.     Vol.  iv. 
Blessed  Sacrament.     Anon.     MS.  of  date  about  146 1.     Speci- 
mens   of    the   Pre-Shaksperean   Drama,   J.    M.    Manly. 

2  vols.,  1904.     Vol.  ii. 
Bloody    Brother.      Fletcher,    Jonson(?),    and    others.      W. 

after  1624.     A.  1637.     S.R.  1639.     P.  1640.     The  edition 

used  in  Beggar's  Bush.     Vol.  v. 
Blurt    Master    Constable.     Thomas    Middleton.     A.    1600-1. 

P.  1602.    The  Works  of  Thomas  Middleton,  A.  H.  Bullen. 

8  vols,  i88<;.     Vol.  i. 


170  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

Bondsman.  Philip  Massinger.  L.  1623.  S.R.  1624.  P.  1639. 
The  Dramatic  Works  of  Philip  Massinger,  complete  in 
four  volumes,  by  J.  M.  Mason,  1779.     Vol.  ii. 

Brazen  Age.  Thomas  Heywood.  P.  1613.  The  Dramatic 
Works  of  Thomas  Heywood,  with  notes  and  a  memoir  of 
the  author.     6  vols.,  1874.     Vol.  iii. 

BrokenHeart.  JohnFord.  A.  c.  1629.  P.  1633.  The  Works 
of  John  Ford,  W.  Gifford.     2  vols.,  1826.     Vol.  i. 

Bussy  d'Ambois.  George  Chapman.  A.  i6o4(?).  P.  1607. 
The  edition  of  Chapman's  Works  quoted  above.     Vol.  ii. 

Calisto  and  Meliboea.  Anon.  P.  1630.  Anonymous  Plays, 
First  Series,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1905. 

Cambises.  Thomas  Preston.  S.R.  1569-70.  Dodsley's  Old 
English  Plays,  W.  C.  Hazlitt.     15  vols.,  1876.     Vol.  iv. 

Cambyses.     Elkanah  Settle.     A.  1666.     Quarto,  167 1. 

Captain.  (Beaumont  and)  Fletcher.  A.  161 2-13.  P.  1647. 
The  Works  of  Francis  Beaumont  and  John  Fletcher, 
A.  Glover  and  A.  R.  Waller,  n  vols.,  1905-  (edition  in 
progress).     Vol.  v. 

Castle  of  Perseverance.  Anon.  MS.  written  during  the  reign 
of  Edward  IV.  (1461-1483).  Macro  Plays,  F.  J.  Furnivall 
and  A.  W.  Pollard,  in  the  Early  English  Text  Society, 
Extra  Series,  Vol.  xci. 

Chances.  (Beaumont  and)  Fletcher.  A.  1615(F).  P.  1647. 
The  edition  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  Works  by 
Glover  and  Waller  already  quoted.     Vol.  iv. 

Chaste  Maid.  Thomas  Middleton.  A.  1612(F).  P.  1630. 
The  edition  of  Middleton's  Works  already  quoted.   Vol.  v. 

Chester  Plays.  Anon.  Five  MSS.  of  dates  1591-1607.  Ches- 
ter plays,  ed.  by  Thomas  Wright,  1847,  for  the  Shake- 
speare Society. 

City  Madam.  Philip  Massinger.  W.  c.  1619(F).  A.  1632. 
P.  1653.  The  edition  of  Massinger 's  Works  already 
quoted.     Vol.  iv. 

Cleomenes.  JohnDryden.  A.  1692.  The  edition  of  Dryden's 
Works  already  quoted. 

Coelum  Britannicum.  Thomas  Carew.  A.  1634.  P.  1634. 
The  Works  of  Sr.  William  D'Avenant,  Kt.     Consisting 


LIST  OF  PLAYS  171 

of  those  which  were  formerly  Printed,  and  those  which 

he  designed  for  the  Press:     Now  Published  out  of  the 

Author's  Original  Copies,  1673. 
Conquest   of    China  by  the    Tartars.     Elkanah    Settle.     A. 

1676.     Quarto,  1676. 
Constantine    the    Great.     Nathaniel    Lee.     A.     1684.     The 

Works  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Lee,  in  three  Volumes,  1722. 

Vol.  ii. 
Court     Beggar.     Richard     Brome.     A.     1640(F).     P.     1653. 

The    Dramatic    Works    of    Richard  Brome,  containing 

fifteen  comedies,  now  first  collected   in  three  volumes, 

1873.     Vol.  i. 
Cruel    Brother.     William    Davenant.     L.     1627.     P.     1630. 

The  edition  of  Davenant's  Works  already  quoted. 
Cruelties  of  the  Spaniards.     William  Davenant.     A.    1658. 

The  edition  of  Davenant's  Works  already  quoted. 
David  and  Bethsabe.     George  Peele.     W.  c.  1588.     P.  1599. 

The  Works  of  George  Peele,  A.  H.  Bullen.     2  vols.,  1888. 

Vol.  ii. 
Devil  is   an   Ass.     Ben  Jonson.     A.    1616.     P.    1631.     The 

edition  of  Jonson's  Works  already  quoted.    Vol.  ii. 
Dick  of  Devonshire.     Anon.     A.  1625.     Old  English  Plays, 

A.  H.  Bullen.     Vol.  ii. 
Dido.     Marlowe  and  Nash.     A.  1591.    P.  1594-     The  Works 

of  Christopher  Marlowe,  Francis  Cunningham,  1902. 
Digby  Plays.     Anon.     A  collection  of  fifteenth-century  plays. 

The  Digby  Mysteries,  F.  J.  Furnivall.     Edited  in  1882 

for  the  New  Shakspere  Society,  and  reprinted  in  1896 

for  the  E.  E.  T.  S.     Extra  Series,  vol.  lxx. 
Disobedient  Child.     Thomas  Engelend.     W.  before  i5S3(?). 

A.   1 560-61  (?).     P.   c.   1564.     The  Dramatic  Works  of 

Richard  Wever  and  Thomas  Engelend,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1905. 
Distresses.      William     Davenant.      S.R.     1639.      P.      1673. 

The  edition  of  Davenant's  Works  already  quoted. 
Doctor  Faustus.     Christopher  Marlowe.     A.   1588.     P.  1604. 

The  edition  of  Marlowe's  Works  already  quoted. 
Don    Carlos.     Thomas    Otway.     A.    1676.     The    edition    of 

Otway's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 


172  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

Downfall  of  Robert  Earl  of  Huntington.     Anthony  Munday. 

A.  1598.     P.  1601.     Hazlitt's  Dodsley.     Vol.  viii. 
Duchess  of  Malfy.     John  Webster.      A.  c.   1612.     P.   1623. 

The  White  Devil  and  The  Duchess  of  Malfy,  by  John 

Webster,  M.  W.  Sampson,  1904. 
Duke  of  Guise.     Dryden  and  Lee.     A.  1682.     The  edition  of 

Dryden's  Works  already  quoted. 
Eastward  Ho.    Jonson,  Chapman,  and  Marston.     W.  1604-5. 

P.  1605(F).     The   edition   of   Marston's   Works   already 

quoted.     Vol.  iii. 
Edward    I.     George   Peele.     A.    i59o-i(?).     P.    1593.     The 

edition  of  Peele's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 

I  Edward    IV.     Thomas    Heywood.     A.     1594.     P.     1600. 

The  edition  of  Heywood 's  Works  already  quoted.      Vol.  i. 

II  Edward    IV.     Thomas    Heywood.     A.    1594.     P.    1600. 

The  edition  of  Heywood's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 
Emperor  of  the  East.     Philip  Massinger.     L.  1631.     P.  1632. 

The  edition  of  Massinger's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol. 

ii. 
Empress  of  Morocco.     Elkanah   Settle.     A.    167 1.     Quarto, 

1687. 
Enchanted   Island.     John  Dryden.     A.    1667.     The  edition 

of  Dryden's  Works  already  quoted. 
English   Traveler.     Thomas    Heywood.     A.    c.    16 27(F).     P. 

1633.     The  edition  of  Heywood's  Works  already  quoted. 

Vol.  iv. 
Evening's  Love.     John  Dryden.     A.   1668.     The  edition  of 

Dryden's  Works  already  quoted. 
Faery  Pastoral.     William  Percy.     W.  1601.     P.  1824.     Two 

Plays  by  William  Percy.     Ed.  by  J.  Halsewood,  1824, 

for  the  Percy  Society. 
Fair 'Maid  of  the  Exchange.     Thomas  Heywood.     W.  1602(F). 

P.    1607.     The    edition    of    Heywood's    Works    already 

quoted.     Vol.  ii. 
I  Fair  Maid  of  the  West.     Thomas  Heywood.     W.  before 

1603(F).     P.    1 63 1.     The  edition  of  Heywood's  Works 

already  quoted.     Vol.  ii. 
Family  of  Love.     Thomas  Middleton.     A.  1607(F).     P.  1608. 


LIST  OF  PLAYS  173 

The  edition  of  Middleton's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol. 

iii. 
Fatal  Marriage.     Thomas  Southerne.     A.  1694.     Plays  Writ- 
ten by  Thomas  Southerne,  Esq.,  now  first  collected.     3 

vols.,  1774.     Vol.  ii. 
Fate  of  Capua.     Thomas  Southerne.     A.  1700.     The  edition 

of  Southerne's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  iii. 
First  Part  of  the  Contention.     Marlowe  and  others  (?).     P. 

1594.     Shakespeare's  Library,  5  vols.,  1875.     Vol.  v. 
Four   Elements.     Anon.     W.    1510-20.     Anonymous    Plays, 

First  Series,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1905. 
Four  Plays  in  One.     Beaumont  and  Fletcher.     A.  i6o8(?). 

P.  1647.     The  edition  used  in  Beggar's  Bush.     Vol.  x. 
Four  Ps.  John  Heywood.    P.  c.  1 545.     The  Dramatic  Writings 

of  John  Heywood,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1905. 
Friar  Bacon  and  Friar  Bungay.     Robert  Greene.     W.  1589(F). 

P.  1594.     The  edition  of  Greene's  Works  already  quoted. 

Vol.  ii. 
Friendship    in    Fashion.     Thomas    Otway.     A.    1678.     The 

edition  of  Otway 's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  ii. 
Gammer  Gurton's  Needle.    W.  Stevenson (?).    W.  i552-53(?). 

P.  1575.      Specimens  of  Pre-Shaksperean  Drama,  J.  M. 

Manly.     Vol.  ii. 
Gentleman  Usher.     George  Chapman.     A.  160 1-2.     P.  1606. 

The  edition  of  Chapman's  Works  already  quoted.    Vol.  i. 
Giovanni  and  Annabella.     See  'Tis  Pity  She's  a  Whore. 
God's  Promises.      Bishop  Bale.     W.   1538.      Dodsley's  Old 

English  Plays.     Vol.  i. 
Golden    Age.    Thomas  Heywood.    W.  before  161 1.    P.  1611. 

The  edition  of  Heywood 's  Works  already  quoted.    Vol.  iii. 
Great  Duke  of  Florence.     Philip  Massinger.     L.   1627.     P. 

1635.     The  edition  of  Massinger 's  Works  already  quoted. 

Vol.  iii. 
Greene's  Tu   Quoque.     John  Cooke.     A.  1611(F).     P.  1614. 

Hazlitt's  Dodsley,  vol.  xi. 
Grim  the  Collier  of  Croydon.     William  Haughton.     A.  1 600  ( ?) . 

P.  1662.     Anonymous  Plays,  Fourth  Series,  J.  S.  Farmer, 

1908. 


174  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

Guardian.  Philip  Massinger.  L.  1633.  P.  1655.  The  edi- 
tion of  Massinger's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  iv. 

Hamlet.  William  Shakspere.  W.  i6oi(?).  S.R.  1602. 
P.  1603.     Folio,  1623. 

I  Henry  IV.     William  Shakspere.      W.  c.  1597.     S.R.  1598. 

P.  1598.     Folio,  1623. 
Henry  VIII.     William  Shakspere.     W.  c.  1611.     A.  1613  (?). 

P.  1623.     Folio,  1623. 
Historical  Register.     Henry  Fielding.     A.   1637.     One  of  a 

Number  of  Plays  Bound  Together,  1741. 
History  of  Sir  Francis  Drake.     William  Davenant.     A.  1659. 

P.    1659.     The   edition   of    Davenant 's   Works   already 

quoted. 

II  Honest  Whore.     Thomas  Dekker.     W.  1604.     S.R.  1608. 

P.  1630.     The  Dramatic  Works  of  Thomas  Dekker,  now 

first  collected  with  notes  and  a  memoir.     4  vols.,  1873. 

Vol.  ii. 
How  a  Man  May  Choose  a  Good  Wife.     Anon.     W.  1601.     P. 

1602.     Hazlitt's  Dodsley,  Vol.  ix. 
Humorous  Lieutenant.     John  Fletcher.     A.  1619.     P.  1647. 

The    edition    by    Glover    and    Waller    already    quoted. 

Vol.  ii. 
Hycke-Scorner.     Anon.     P.  c.  1530.     Anonymous  Plays,  First 

Series,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1905. 
If  this  be  not  a  good  Play,  the  Devil  is  in  it.    Thomas  Dekker. 

W.    1610.     P.    1612.     The    edition  of    Dekker 's  Works 

already  quoted.     Vol.  iii. 
I  If  you  Know  Not  Me.     Thomas  Heywood.     P.  1605.       The 

edition  of  Heywood's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 
Impatient  Poverty.     Anon.     P.  1560.     "Lost"  Tudor  Plays 

and  Some  Others,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1907. 
Insatiate  Countess.     John  Marston.     A.  1610-13.     P.  1613. 

The  edition  of  Marston's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol. 

iii. 
Interlude     of     Youth.      Anon.      W.    1553-58.     Anonymous 

Plays,  Second  Series,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1906. 
I  Iron  Age.     Thomas  Heywood.     P.   1632.     The  edition  of 

Heywood's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  iii. 


LIST  OF  PLAYS  175 

II  Iron  Age.  Thomas  Heywood.  P.  1632.  The  edition 
of  Heywood's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  iii. 

Jack  Juggler.  Anon.  W.  between  1553  and  1562.  Anony- 
mous Plays.     Third  Series,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1906. 

Jew  of  Malta.  Christopher  Marlowe.  W.  1588-9.  P.  1633. 
The  edition  of  Marlowe's  Works  already  quoted. 

Johan  Johan,  Tyb,  and  Jhon.  John  Heywood.  P.  1533. 
The  edition  of  John  Heywood's  Works  already  quoted. 

John  the  Evangelist.  Anon.  W.  between  1547  and  1553. 
"Lost"  Tudor  Plays  and  Some  Others,  J.  S.  Farmer, 
1907'. 

King  and  No  King.  Beaumont  and  Fletcher.  L.  161 1. 
P.  1619.  The  edition  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's 
Works  by  Glover  and  Waller.     Vol.  i. 

King  Darius.  Anon.  P.  1565.  Anonymous  Plays.  Third 
Series,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1906. 

King  Lear.  William  Shakspere.  S.R.  1607.  P.  1608.  Fo- 
lio, 1623. 

King  of  Lombardy.     W.  Davenant.     W.  1626.     Folio,  1673. 

Kynge  Johan.  Bishop  Bale.  W.  c.  1548.  Camden  Soc.  pub. 
1838,  ed.  J.  P.  Collier. 

Like  Will  to  Like.  Ulpian  Fulwell.  P.  1568.  Hazlitt's 
Dodsley,  Vol.  iii. 

Limberham.  John  Dryden.  A.  1678.  The  edition  of  Dry- 
den's  Works  already  quoted. 

Looking  Glass  for  London  and  England.  Lodge  and  Greene. 
W.  i589(?).  P.  1594.  The  edition  of  Greene's  Works 
already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 

Lord  Cromwell.  Anon.  S.R.  1602.  P.  1613.  Old  English 
Drama,  T.  Evan  Jacob,  1889. 

Love  and  Honor.  William  Davenant.  L.  1634.  P.  1649. 
The  edition  of  Davenant's  Works  already  quoted. 

Love  and  Revenge.  William Hemings.  W.c.  1637.  P.  1653. 
Quarto,  1675. 

Love  for  Love.  William  Congreve.  P.  1695.  The  Dramatic 
Works  of  William  Congreve,  Esq.     1  vol.,  1733. 

Love  in  a  Nunnery.  John  Dryden.  A.  1672.  The  edition 
of  Dryden's  Works  already  quoted. 


176  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

Love's  Sacrifice.  John  Ford.  A.  c.  1630.  P.  1633.  The  edi- 
tion of  Ford's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 

Love  Triumphant.  John  Dryden.  A.  1694.  The  edition  of 
Dryden's  Works  already  quoted. 

Loyal  Brother.  Thomas  Southerne.  A.  1682.  The  edition 
of  Southerne's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 

Loyal  Subject.  John  Fletcher.  L.  1618.  P.  1647.  The 
edition  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  Works  by  Glover  and 
Waller.     Vol.  iii. 

Lucius  Junius  Brutus.  Nathaniel  Lee.  A.  1681.  The  edition 
of  Lee's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 

Ludus  Coventriae.  Anon.  MS.  of  date  1534.  Ludus  Co- 
ventriae.  Ed.  by  J.  0.  Halliwell,  1841,  for  the  Shake- 
speare Society. 

Lust's  Dominion.  "  Christopher  Marlowe."  W.  i6oo(?).  P. 
1657.  The  Works  of  Christopher  Marlowe,  E.  G.  Rob- 
inson.    3  vols.,  1826.     Vol.  iii. 

Lusty  Juventus.  Richard  Wever.  W.  c.  1550.  The  Dra- 
matic Works  of  Richard  Wever  and  Thomas  Engelend, 
J.  S.  Farmer,  1905. 

Macbeth.  William  Shakspeare.  W.  1605-6.  P.  1623.  Fo- 
lio, 1623. 

Macro  Plays.  Anon.  MS.  written  during  the  reign  of  Edward 
IV.  (1461-1483).  Macro  Plays.  Ed.  by  F.  J.  Furnivall 
and  A.  W.  Pollard,  in  the  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Extra  Series. 
Vol.  xci. 

Mad  Lover.  John  Fletcher.  A.  c.  1618.  P.  1647.  The  edi- 
tion of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  Works  by  Glover  and 
Waller.     Vol.  iii. 

Magnificence.  John  Skelton.  W.,  1515-1523.  The  Poetical 
Works  of  John  Skelton;  with  notes  and  some  account 
of  the  author  and  his  writings,  Alexander  Dyce.  2  vols., 
1843.     Vol.  i. 

Maiden  Queen.  John  Dryden.  A.  1667.  The  edition  of 
Dryden's  Works  already  quoted. 

Maid's  Tragedy.  Beaumont  and  Fletcher.  L.  161 1.  P. 
1 61 9.  The  edition  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  Works 
by  Glover  and  Waller.     Vol.  i. 


LIST  OF  PLAYS  177 

Mankind.     Anon.     Fifteenth  century.     "Lost"  Tudor  Plays 

and  Some  Others,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1907. 
Marriage  of  Wit  and  Science.     Anon.     L.  1569-70.     Anony- 
mous Plays,  Fourth  Series,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1908. 
Martyred    Soldier.     Henry    Shirley.     W.    before    1627.     P. 

1638.     Old  English  Plays,  A.  H.  Bullen.     4  vols.,  1882-5. 

Vol.  i. 
Mary    Magdalene.     Anon.     MS.    of    the    fifteenth    century. 

The  edition  of  the  Digby  Mysteries  already  quoted. 
Massacre  of  Paris.      Christopher    Marlowe.      A.  1593.      P. 

i594(?).     The  edition  of  Marlowe's  Works  already  quoted. 
Mayor  of  Queensborough.     Thomas  Middleton.     W.    1596-7. 

P.    1 66 1.     The   edition   of   Middleton's   Works   already 

quoted.     Vol.  ii. 
Menaechmi.     Plautus.     The  edition  of   Plautus's    Comedies 

already  quoted.     Vol.   i. 
Merchant  of  Venice.     William  Shakspeare.      W.   1594.     P. 

1600.     Folio,  1623. 
Merry  Beggars,  Richard  Brome.     A.   1641.     P.   1652.     The 

edition  of  Brome's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  iii. 
Messallina.     Nathaniel  Richards.     P.  1640.     Quarto,  1640. 
Michaelmas    Term.       Thomas    Middleton.      W.    1604.      P. 

1607.     The  edition  of  Middleton's  Works  already  quoted. 

Vol.  i. 
Miles  Gloriosus.     Plautus.     The  edition  of  Plautus's   Come- 
dies already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 
Mind,    Will,    and    Understanding.     Anon.     W.    in   fifteenth 

century.     The  edition  of  the  Digby  Mysteries  already 

quoted. 
Mithridates.     Nathaniel  Lee.     A.  1678.     The  edition  of  Lee's 

Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  iii. 
Mock  Astrologer.     See  Evening's  Love. 
Monsieur  Thomas.     John  Fletcher.     A.  c.    1609.     P.    1639. 

The    edition    of    Beaumont    and    Fletcher's   Works   by 

Glover  and  Waller.     Vol.  iv. 
More   Dissemblers  besides  Women.  Thomas  Middleton.     A. 

1622-3.     P.    1657.     The   edition  of  Middleton's   Works 

already  quoted.     Vol.  vi. 


178  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

Mundus  et  Infans.  Anon.  W.  c.  1500-1506.  P.  1522. 
Anonymous  Plays,  First  Series,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1905. 

Nature.  Henry  Med  well.  W.  in  the  fifteenth  century. 
P.  1510-20.  "Lost"  Tudor  Plays  and  Some  Others, 
J.  S.  Farmer,  1907. 

New  Custom.  Anon.  W.  between  1534  and  1573.  Anony- 
mous Plays,  Third  Series,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1906. 

Nice  Wanton.  "T.R."  W.  c.  1 547-1 553.  P.  1560.  Speci- 
mens of  the  Pre-Shaksperean  Drama,  J.  M.  Manly. 
Vol.  i. 

Norwich  Plays.  Only  the  Grocers'  Play  extant.  Two  MSS. 
of  dates  1534  and  1565.  Specimens  of  the  Pre-Shak- 
sperean Drama,  J.  M.  Manly.     Vol.  i. 

Old  Fortunatus.  Thomas  Dekker.  W.  1596.  P.  1600. 
The  edition  of  Dekker's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 

Old  Law.  Middleton  and  others.  A.  i599(?).  P.  1656. 
The  edition  of  Massinger's  Works  already  quoted.  Vol. 
iv. 

Old  Wives'  Tale.  George  Peele.  W.  i59o(?).  P.  1595. 
The  edition  of  Peele's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 

Outlaw's  Christmas.     Theodore  Kremer.     A.  1908. 

Parisitaster.  John  Marston.  A.  1604.  P.  1606.  The  edi- 
tion of  Marston's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  ii. 

Peregrini.  Anon.  MS.  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Specimens 
of  the  Pre-Shaksperean  Drama,  J.  M.  Manly.     Vol.  i. 

Phoenix.  Thomas  Middleton.  P.  1607.  The  edition  of 
Middleton's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 

Picture.  Philip  Massinger.  L.  1629.  P.  1630.  The  edition 
of  Massinger's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 

Pilgrim.  John  Fletcher.  A.  162 1-2.  P.  1647.  The  edition 
of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  Works  by  Glover  and  Waller. 
Vol.  v. 

Pinner  of  Wakefield.  Robert  Greene.  W.  1588-92.  P.  1599. 
The  edition  of  Greene's  Works  already  quoted.    Vol.  ii. 

Platonic  Lovers.    William  Da venant.    L.  1635.    P.  1636. 
The  edition  of  Davenant's  Works  already  quoted. 

Play  of  Love.  John  Heywood.  P.  1533.  The  edition  of 
John  Heywood 's  Works  already  quoted. 


LIST  OF  PLAYS  179 

Play  of  the  Weather.     John  Heywood.     P.  1533.     The  edition 

of  John  Hey  wood's  Works  already  quoted. 
Queen  Hester.     Anon.     P.  1561.     Anonymous  Plays,  Second 

Series,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1906. 
Ralph    Roister    Doister.     Nicholas    Udall.     W.     1 552-3  (?). 
Specimens  of  the  Pre-Shakspearean  Drama,  J.  M.  Manly. 
Vol.  ii. 
Rape  of  Lucrece.      Thomas  Heywood.      A.    c.    1605.      P. 

1608.     The  edition  of  Heywood's  Works  already  quoted. 

Vol.  v. 
Rehearsal.     George  Villiers,  Duke  of  Buckingham.     A.  167 1. 

The  Rehearsal,  E.  Arber  (English  Reprints,  1869). 
Renegade     Philip   Massinger.     L.    1624.     P.    i63o(?).     The 

edition  of  Massinger 's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  ii. 
Respublica.     Anon.     W.    1553.     "Lost"    Tudor  Plays  and 

Some  Others,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1907. 
Resurrection  Play.     Anon.     W.  in  the  twelfth  century.     The 

Prologue  is  given  in    Chambers'  Mediaeval    Stage,    pp. 

82-3. 
Roman  Actor.     Philip  Massinger.     A.  1626.     P.  1629.     The 

edition  of  Massinger's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 
Romeo    and     Juliet.     William   Shakspere.     W.     1591-6    P. 

1597.     Folio,  1623. 
Roxana.     William  Alabaster.     P.  1632.     Quarto,  1632. 
Royal   King   and   Loyal   Subject.     Thomas    Heywood.     W. 

i6i8(?).     P.  1637.      The  edition  of    Heywood's  Works 

already  quoted.     Vol.  vi. 
Sapho  and   Phao.     John   Lyly.     W.    1581.     P.    1584.     The 

Complete  Works  of  John  Lyly,  now  first  collected  and 

edited  from  the  earliest  quartos,  with  life,  bibliography, 

essays,  notes,  and  index,  R.  W.  Bond.     3  vols.,  1902. 

Vol.  ii. 
Satiro-Mastix.     Thomas  Dekker.     A.   1601.     P.    1602.     The 

edition  of  Dekker 's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 
Scholar.     R.Lovelace.     W.   1636(F).     P.  (Prologue  and  Epi- 
logue)   1649.     Poems  of   Richard   Lovelace,   W.    Carew 

Hazlitt,  1864. 
Sejanus.     Ben    Jonson.     A.     1603.     S.R.     1604.     P.     1605. 


180  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

The  edition  of  Jonson's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 
She  Would  if  She  Could.     Sir  George  Etheredge.      A.  1668. 

The  Works  of  Sir  George  Etheredge,  containing  his  Plays 

and  Poems,  1  vol.,  1735. 
Siege  of  Rhodes.     William  Davenant.     A.   1656.     P.   1656. 

The  edition  of  Davenant's  Works  already  quoted. 
Silver  Age.     Thomas  Heywood.     P.   1613.     The  edition  of 

Heywood's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  iii. 
Sir  Martin  Mar- All.     John  Dryden.     A.  1667.     The  edition  of 

Dryden's  Works  already  quoted. 
Soldier's  Fortune.     Thomas  Otway.     P.  1681.     The  edition 

of  Otway's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  ii. 
Sophonisba.     John    Marston.     A.     1602-3.     P.     1606.     The 

edition  of  Marston's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  ii. 
Spanish    Friar.     John    Dryden.     A.    1681.     The    edition    of 

Dryden's  Works  already  quoted. 
Spanish   Tragedy.     Thomas   Kyd.      W.    1586(F).     P.    1594. 

The  works  of  Thomas  Kyd,  F.  S.  Boas.     1  vol.,  1901. 
Summoning  of  Everyman.     Anon.     P.  before  153 1.     Anony- 
mous Plays,  First  Series,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1905. 
Tale  of  a  Tub.     Ben  Jonson.     W.  i6oi(?).     P.  1640.     The 

edition  of  Jonson's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  ii. 

I  Tamburlaine.     Christopher  Marlowe.     W.  1587.     P.  1592. 

The  edition  of  Marlowe's  Works  already  quoted. 

II  Tamburlaine.     Christopher  Marlowe.     W.  1587.    P.  1592 

The  edition  of  Marlowe's  Works  already  quoted. 

Thersites.  Anon.  A.  1537.  P.  1561(F).  Anonymous  Plays, 
First  Series,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1905. 

'Tis  Pity  She's  a  Whore.  John  Ford.  A.  c.  1626.  P.  1633. 
The  edition  of  Ford's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 

Titus  and  Berenice.  Thomas  Otway.  A.  1677.  The  edition 
of  Otway's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 

Towneley,  Plays.  Anon.  MS.  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
The  Towneley  Plays,  G.  England  and  A.  W.  Pollard, 
1897.     E.  E.  T.  S.     Vol.  lxxi.,  Extra  Series. 

Trial  of  Treasure.  Anon.  P.  1567.  Anonymous  Plays,  Sec- 
ond Series,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1906. 

Trick  to  Catch  the  Old  One.     Thomas  Middleton.     A.  1606. 


LIST  OF  PLAYS  181 

P.    1608.    The   edition   of  Middleton's  Works   already- 
quoted.    Vol.  ii. 
Tyrannic   Love.     John  Dryden.     P.    1670.     The  edition  of 

Dryden's  Works  already  quoted. 
Unnatural  Combat.     Philip  Massinger.     W.  1621.     P.  1639. 

The   edition   of    Massinger's    Works    already    quoted. 

Vol.  iii. 
Valentinian.     John  Fletcher.     W.  1617.     P.  1647.     The  edi- 
tion of   Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  Works  by  Glover  and 

Waller.     Vol.  iv. 
Variety.     William  Cavendish,  Duke  of  Newcastle.     A.  1639- 

40.     P.  1649. 
Venice  Preserved.     Thomas  Otway.     A.  1682.     The  edition 

of  Otway's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  iii. 
Virgin  Prophetess.     Elkanah  Settle.     A.  1701.     Quarto,  1 701. 
Virgin  Martyr.     Philip  Massinger.     L.  1620.     P.  1621.     The 

edition  of  Massinger's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 
Volpone.     Ben  Jonson.     A.  1606.     P.  1607.     The  edition  of 

Jonson's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  i. 
Wealth    and    Health.     Anon.     P.    1565(F).     "Lost"    Tudor 

Plays  and  Some  Others,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1907. 
What    You   Will.     John    Marston.     W.    i6oi(?).     P.    1607. 

The  edition  of  Marston's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.   ii. 
White  Devil.     John  Webster.     A.  1607  (?).     P.  161 2.     The 

White  Devil  and  The  Duchess  of  Malfy  by  John  Webster, 

M.  W.  Sampson,  1904. 
Whore  of  Babylon.     Thomas  Dekker.     W.  1605(F).     P.  1607. 

The  edition  of  Dekker's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  ii. 
Widow's  Tears.     George  Chapman.     A.  1605.     P.  1612.     The 

edition  of  Chapman's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  iii. 
Wife  for  a  Month.     John  Fletcher.     L.  1624.     P.  1647.     The 

edition  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  Works  by  Glover 

and  Waller.     Vol.  v. 
Wild  Gallant.     John  Dryden.     A.  1663.    The  edition  of  Dry- 
den's Works  already  quoted. 
Wise   Woman   of   Hogsdon.     Thomas   Heywood.     A.    1604. 

P.    1638.     The   edition   of    Heywood 's   Works    already 

quoted.     Vol.  v. 


182  LIST  OF  PLAYS 

Wisdom  of  Doctor  Dodypoll.     George  Peele(?).     A.c.  i59o(?). 

P.  1600.     Old  English  Plays,  A.  H.  Bullen.     Vol.  iii. 
Wit  and  Science.     John  Redford.    W.  c.    1545.    "Lost"  Tu- 
dor Plays  and  Some  Others,  J.  S.  Farmer,  1907. 
Wit   without   Money.     John   Fletcher.     A.    1614.     P.    1639. 

The   edition   of   Beaumont   and    Fletcher's   Works   by 

Glover  and  Waller.     Vol.  ii. 
Witch.     Thomas  Middleton.     A.  c.  i62i(?).     The  edition  of 

Middleton's  Works  already  quoted.     Vol.  v. 
Witch  of  Edmonton.     Rowley,  Dekker,  and     Ford.     A.  c. 

1621.     P.  1658.     The  edition  of  Dekker 's  Works  already 

quoted.     Vol.  iv. 
Witches  of  Lancashire.     Thomas  Heywood.     A.    1634.     P. 

1634.     The  edition  of  Heywood 's  Works  already  quoted. 

Vol.  iv. 
Wits,  or  Sport  upon  Sport.     Collected  by  Francis  Kirkman. 

P.  1672-3.     Quarto,  1673. 
Women  beware  Women.     Thomas  Middleton.     W.  c.  1612(F). 

P.    1657.     The  edition   of   Middleton's   Works   already 

quoted.     Vol.  vi. 
York  Plays.    MS.  1 430-1 440.    York  Plays.    Ed.  by  L.  Toulmin 

Smith,  1885. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Adam,  12, 168. 

Ages,  42. 

Alabaster,  William,  44,  179. 

Albion  Knight,  32,  35,  168. 

Alcibiades,  140,  168. 

Alleyn,  Edward,  5. 

Alphonsus,  King  of  Aragon,  72, 
159,  168. 

Alphonsus,  King  of  Germany,  65, 
168. 

Alternation  of  scenes  in  Eliza- 
bethan plays,  116. 

Alternation  of  scenes  in  Restora- 
tion plays,  95. 

Altesten  Drucken  der  Dram  en 
Shakespeares,  Von  den,  Robert 
Prolss,  155. 

Amboyna,  143,  169. 

American  Theater,  81. 

Amphitryon  (John  Dry  den),  169. 

Amphitryon  (Plautus),  4,  169. 

Ancient  Cornish  Drama,  Edwin 
Norris,  18,  19. 

Andria,  4,  169. 

Anglia,  vol.  xxvi,  93;  vol. 
xxxii,  163. 

II  Antonio  and  Mallida,  61,  166. 

Apology  for  Actors,  Thomas  Hey- 
wood,  71. 

Appendix,  151. 

Appius  and  Virginia,  34,  35,  169. 

Arber,  E.,  179. 

Archer,  William,  The  Elizabethan 
Stage,  3,  5,  162,  163;  The  For- 
tune Theater,  164;  A  Sixteenth 
Century  Playhouse,  166. 

Author's  Farce,  88,  91,  169. 

Baker,  G.  P.,  Development  of 
Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatist,  4, 
5,  50,  163;  Hamlet  on  an  Eliza- 
bethan Stage,  164;  A  Mid- 
summer Night's  Dream,  165. 

Baker,  H.  Barton,  History  of  the 
London  Stage  and  its  Famous 
Players,  164. 


Balcony  windows,  66. 

Bale,  Bishop,  173,  175. 

Bang,  W.,  Zur  Biihne  Shake- 
speares, 163. 

Banquets  brought  on,  139. 

Barnavelt,  137,  169. 

Bartholomew  Fair,  57,  169. 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher.  3,  41, 
169,  170,  173,  174,  175,  176, 
177,  178,  181,  182. 

Bed  curtains,  60. 

Beds  brought  on  and  moved  for- 
ward, 140. 

Beds  in  indoor  scenes,  144. 

Beds  in  outdoor  scenes,  146. 

Beggar's  Bush,  43,  169. 

Beginning  of  the  World,  18. 

Besant,  Walter,  London,  165. 

Binz,  G.,  Londoner  Theater  und 
Schauspiele  im  Jahre  1599,  165. 

Biographical  Chronicle  of  the  Eng- 
lish Drama,  1 599-1642,  F.  G. 
Fleay,  44,  163. 

Blackfriars  Theater,  38,  78,  160, 
161. 

Blessed  Sacrament,  17,  169. 

Bloody  Brother,  41,  169. 

Blurt  Master  Constable,  69,  116, 
169. 

Boas,  F.  S.,  180. 

Bond,  R.  W.,  179. 

Bondsman,  112,  170. 

Bouncing  Knight,  43. 

Bower,  R.,  169. 

Brandes,  G.,  William  Shake- 
speare, 167. 

Brandl,  A.,  Eine  Neue  Art  Shake- 
speare zu  spielen,  165. 

Brazen  Age,  53,  72,  no,  170. 

Breauarye  of  the  Cittie  of  Chester, 
A.,  Robert  Rogers,  24. 

Brodmeier,  Cecil,  Die  Shake- 
speare-Buhne  nach  den  alien 
Buhnenanweisungen,  6, 134, 151, 
154,  166. 

Broken  Heart,  160,  170. 


185 


186 


INDEX 


Brome,  Richard,  171,  177. 

Bubble,  The,  43. 

Buhne  Shake spe ares,  Zur,  W. 
Bang,  163. 

Buhneneinrichtung  des  Shake- 
spearesclten  Theaters  nach  den 
zeitgenossischen  Dramen,  Rich- 
ard Wegener,  6,  151,  160-162, 
163. 

Bullen,  A.  H.,  169,  171,  177,  182. 

Bussy  d'Ambois,  107,  170. 


Cademan,  W.,  47. 
Caesar  and  Pompey,  62,  144. 
Calisto  and  Meliboea,  33,  35,  170. 
Cambises   (Thomas  Preston),  34, 

35.  I7°- 
Cambyses    (Elkanah    Settle),    96, 

Captain,  68,  120,  139,  170. 

Carew,  Thomas,  170. 

Castle  of  Perseverance,  13,  19,  25, 
26,  155,  156,  170. 

Cavendish,  William,   181. 

Chambers,  E.  K.,  The  Mediaeval 
Stage,  n,  12,  13,  24,  163,  168, 
179;  The  Stage  of  the  Globe,  167. 

Chances,  68,  170. 

Chapman,  George,  3,168,  170,  172, 
173,  181. 

Chaste  Maid,  68,  170. 

Chester,  Passion  of  Christ,  28. 

Chester  Plays,  23,  26,  170. 

Children  of  the  Chapel  at  Black- 
friars,  C.  W.  Wallace,  163. 

Chronicle  History  of  the  London 
Stage,  155Q-1642,  F.  G.  Fleay, 
163. 

Churchill,  G.  B.,  and  Keller,  W., 
Die  lateinischen  Universitdts- 
Dramen  in  der  Zeit  der  Konigen 
Elizabeth,  44,  165. 

City  Madam,  106,  112,  138,  139, 
170. 

Clandestine  Marriage,  140. 

Cleomenes,  149,  170. 

Cockpit  Theater,  5,  38,  46. 

Coelum Britannic urn,  72,  170. 

Collier,  J.  P.,  History  of  English 
Dramatic  Poetry  to  the  Time  of 
Shakespeare;  and  Annals  of  the 
Stage  to  the  Restoration,  40,  41, 
164. 

Collins,  J.  C,  168. 

Columbia  University  Library,  12. 

Congreve,  William,  175. 


Conquest  of  China  by  the  Tartars, 
_  x43,  J7i- 

Constantine  the  Great,  140,  171. 
Contemporary    Drawing    of    the 

Swan    Theater,    On    a,    H.    B. 

Wheatley,  163. 
Continuous    act    in    Elizabethan 

plays,  113. 
Continuous    act    in    Restoration 

plays,  94. 
Contract  for    Building    the    First 

Fortune  Theatre,  5,  7,  50. 
Contract  for  Building   the    Hope 

Theatre,  4. 
Cooke,  John,  173. 
Corbin,  John,  Shakespeare  and  the 

Plastic  Stage,  166. 
Court  Beggar,  141,    171. 
Cox,  Robert,  43. 
Critical  Bibliography,  163. 
Cruel  Brother,  65,  67,  107,  171. 
Cruelties  of  the  Spaniards  in  Peru, 

46,  171. 
Cunningham,  Frames,  169,  171. 
Cunningham,     P.,    Handbook    of 

London,  164. 
Curtain  Theater,  38. 
Curtains  used  as  doors,  125. 


Davenant,  William,  3,  46,  50, 
170,  171,   174,  175,  178,  180. 

David  and  Bethsabe,  52,  66,  no. 
113,  171. 

Dekker,  Thomas,  3,  174,  178, 
179,  181,  182;  The  Gull's  Horn- 
book, 164. 

Dekoration  der  modernen  Buhne 
in  Italien,  E.  Flechsig,  163. 

Descension  and  ascension  over 
the  gallery,  73. 

Descension  and  ascension  over  the 


outer  stage,  72^. 
Development  of  ■ 


Shakespeare  as  a 
Dramatist,  G.  P.   Baker,  4,    <:, 

t-,  5°;  J.63-    A 

Devil  is  an  Ass,  70,  171. 

De  Witt,  Johannes,  38,  39,   151, 

160. 
Diary  of  Philip  Henslowe,  1. 
Dick  of  Devonshire,  64,  171. 
Dido,  52,  62,  123,  157,  171. 
Digby  MS.,  15. 
Digby  Plays,  15,  171,  177. 
Dillon,    Arthur,    The    Staging    of 

Shakespeare:  a  Rejoinder,    167. 
Disobedient  Child,  32,  35,  171. 


INDEX 


187 


Dissertation  on  the  Pageants  or 
Dramatic  Mysteries  anciently 
Performed  at  Coventry,  T.  Sharp, 
26. 

Distresses,  56,  62, 123,  171. 

Doctor  Faustus,  157,  160,  171. 

Dodsley's  Old  Plays,  173. 

Don  Carlos,  96,  171. 

Dowries,  John,  Roscius  Anglica- 
nus.  46,  166. 

Downfall  of  Robert  Earl  of  Hunt- 
ington, 52,  55    no,  172. 

Drake,  N.,  Shakespeare  and  His 
Times,  166. 

Dryden,  John,  103,  169,  170,  172, 
175,  176,  180,  181. 

Duchess  of  Malfy,  59,  172. 

Duke  of  Guise,  58,  100,  101,  124, 
126,  172. 

Duke's  Theater,  46,  47,  48,  49. 
50,  58. 

Dyce,  Alexander,  176. 


Early  English  Text  Society,  14,  15, 

170. 
Early  French  Players  in  England, 

W.  J.  Lawrence,  163. 
Early    London    Theaters,    T.    F. 

Ordish,  163. 
Eastward  Ho,  63,  159,  i}a. 
Edward  I,  55,  172. 
/  Edward  IV,  57,  172. 
II  Edward  IV,  56,  136,  146,  172. 
Elizabethan  Drama,  F.  E.  Schell- 

ing,  163. 
Elizabethan  Stage,    The,   "William 

Archer,  3,  5,  162. 
Elizabethan  Stage  Scenery,  C.   C. 

Stopes,  163. 
Elizabethan  Stage  Theories,  163. 
Emperor  of  the  East,  69,  113,  172. 
Empress  of  Morocco,  7,  47,  84,  88, 

97.  x72- 
Enchanted  Island,  138,  172. 
Engelend,  Thomas,  171,  176. 
England,  G.,  180. 
England  as  Seen  by  a  Foreigner, 

W.  B.  Rye,  163. 
Englische  Komodianten  am  Hofe 

des  Herzogs  Philipp  fulius  von 

Pommern-Wolgast,  C.  F.  Meyer, 

164. 
Englische     Studien,    vol.     xxxii, 

39,  167. 
Englischen  Buhne  um  161 1,  Zur, 

Carl  Grabau,  164. 


English  Illustrated  Magazine,  TJie, 

Nov.,  1903,  4,  165. 
English  Traveler,  157,  172. 
Etheredge,  Sir  George,  180. 
Evening's  Love,  98,  100,  172,  177. 
Extracts  from  the  Accounts  of  the 

Revels,  164. 

Faery  Pastoral,  159,  172. 

Fair  Maid  of  the  Exchange,  62, 
124,  172. 

I  Fair  Maid  of  the  West,  64,  126, 
143,  172. 

Fair-sized  gallery  closed  by  a  cur- 
tain, 63. 

Fair-sized  space  closed  by  a  cur- 
tain, 51. 

Family  of  Love,  67,  172. 

Farmer,  J.  S.,  168,  169,  170,  173, 
174,  175,  176,  177,  178,  179 
180,  181,  182. 

Fatal  Marriage,  97,  101,  173. 

Fate  of  Capua,  84,  95,  173. 

Fielding,  Henry,  169,  174. 

First  Part  of  the  Contention,  54, 

I73- 
First  Performance  in  Shakespeare's 
Time,  A,   Herbert  W.   Fisher, 

Fisher,  Herbert  W.,  A  First 
Performance  in  Shakespeare's 
Time,  164. 

Fitzgerald,  P.  H.,  A  New  His- 
tory of  the  English  Stage  from 
the  Restoration  to  the  Liberty 
of  the  Theaters,  46,  165. 

Fitz-Giggo  Picture,  84. 

"Flats"  used  as  doors  on  the  Re- 
storation stage,  100. 

Fleay,  F.  G.,  A  Biographical 
Chronicle  of  the  English  Drama, 
IHQ-1642,  44,  16$;  A  Chronicle 
History  of  the  London  Stage, 
155Q-1642,  163 ;  The  History  of 
the  Theaters  in  London,  1576- 
1642,  45,  164.  . 

Flechsig,  E.,  Dekoration  der  mo- 
dernen  Buhne  in  Italien,  163. 

Fleury  Peregrini,  12,  178. 

Ford,  John,  3,  170,  176,  180,  182. 

Forgotten  Stage  Conventionality,  A, 
W.  J.  Lawrence,  93,  164. 

Fortune  Theater,  1,  4,  38,  41,  42, 
78. 

Fortune  Theatre,  The,  William 
Archer,  164. 

Four  Elements,  35,  173. 


188 


INDEX 


Four  Plays  in  One,  145,  173. 

Four  Ps,  32,  35,  173. 

Frere,  D.,  44. 

Friar   Bacon  and  Friar  Bungay, 

52,  160,  173. 
Friendship  in  Fashion,   92,    140, 

173- 
Fulwell,  Ulpian,  175. 
Furnivall,  F.  J.,  14,  15,  170,  171, 

176. 

Gaedertz,  K.  T.,Kenntnis  der  al- 
tenglischen  Buhne,  Zur,  165. 

Gallery,  63. 

Gallery  doors,  65. 

Gallery  window,  66. 

Gammer  Gurton's  Needle,  4,   173. 

Gen£e,  R.,  Uber  die  Scenischen 
Formen  Shakespeare's  in  ihrem 
Verhdltnisse  zur  Buhne  seiner 
Zeit,  166. 

Genest,  J.,  Some  Account  of  the 
English  Stage  from  the  Restora- 
tion in  1660  to  18 jo,  166. 

Gentleman  Usher,  135,  145,  173. 

Gifford,  W.,  169,  170. 

Giovanni  and  Annabella,  160,  173. 

Globe  Theater,  1,  5,  38,  42,  51, 
78,  161. 

Glover,  A.,  170,  174,  175,  176, 
177,  178,  181,  182. 

God's  Promises,  32,  35,  173. 

Golden  Age,  73,  173. 

Grabau,  Carl,  Zur  Englische  Buh- 
ne urn  1600,  164. 

Great  Duke  of  Florence,  64,  66,  173. 

Greene,  Robert,  3,  168,  173,  175, 
178. 

Greene's  Tu  Quoque,  43,  173. 

Grim  the  Collier  of  Croyden,   52, 

Guardian,  52,  109,  139,  141,  174. 
Gull's     Hornbook,     The,    Thomas 
Dekker,  164. 

Hale,  E.  E.,  Jr.,  The  Influence  of 
Theatrical  Conditions  on  Shake- 
speare, 165. 

Hallet,  W.  Hughes,  The  Staging 
of  Shakespeare,  167. 

Halliwell,  J.  O.,  19,  176;  Outlines 
of  the  Life  of  Shakespeare,  165. 

Halsewood,  J.,  172. 

Hamlet,  no,  136,  149,  174. 

Hamlet  on  an  Elizabethan  Stage, 
G.  P.  Baker,  164. 


Handbook  of  London,  P.  Cunning- 
ham, 164. 

Haughton,  W.,  173. 

Hazlitt's  Dodsley,  42,  164,  170, 
172,  173,  174,  175. 

Heminge,  William,  175. 

I  Henry  IV,  43,  174. 

Henry  VIII,  56,  70,  in,  123,  174. 

Henslowe,  Philip,  1,  7. 

Heywood,  John,  173,  175,  178, 
179. 

Heywood,  Thomas,  3,  42,  71,  170, 
172, 173.  x74.  175.  J79,  180, 181, 
182. 

Historia  Histrionica,  J.  Wright, 
42,  164. 

Histoire  de  la  langue  et  de  la 
litterature  frangaises,  Pettit  de 
Julleville,  12. 

Historical  Account  of  the  English 
Stage,  Edmund  Malone,  164. 

Historical  Novel,  The,  Brander 
Matthews,  164. 

Historical  Register,  88,  91,  174. 

History  of  English  Dramatic  Liter- 
ature to  the  Death  of  Queen 
Anne,  A.,  A.  W.  Ward.  164. 

History  of  English  Dramatic  Po- 
etry to  tlie  Time  of  Shakespeare; 
and  Annals  of  the  Stage  to  the 
Restoration,  J.  P.  Collier,  40,  41, 
164. 

History  of  Sir  Francis  Drake,  46, 
174. 

History  of  the  London  Stage  and 
its  Famous  Players,  H.  Barton 
Baker,  164. 

History  of  the  Theatres  in  Lon- 
don,  1576-1642,  F.   G.   Fleay, 

45.  l64- 

History  of  Theatrical  Art  in  An- 
cient and  Modern  Times,  A, 
Karl  Mantzius,  164. 

I  Honest  Whore,  61. 

77  Honest  Whore,  57,  174. 

Hope  Theater,  1,  4,  38,  71. 

How  a  Man  May  Choose  a  Good 
Wife,  160,  174. 

Humorous  Lieutenant,  46,  63,  69, 
174. 

Humours  of  Monsieur  Galliard,  43. 

"Hut,"  The,  71. 

Hycke-Scorner,  35,  174. 


//  this  be  not  a  good  Play,  tlie  Devil 
is  in  it,  55,  63,  74,  i74- 


INDEX 


189 


If  You  Know  not  Me,  66,  112,  124, 
125,  127,  133,  158,  174. 

Impatient  Poverty,  32,  35,  174. 

Influence  of  Theatrical  Conditions 
on  Shakespeare,  The,  E.  E. 
Hale,  Jr.,  165. 

Inner  scenes,  115. 

Insatiate  Countess,  52,  no,  174. 

Interlude  of  Youth,  35,  174. 

Interludes  and  Shorter  Mo- 
ralities, Chapter  II,  29. 

Introduction,  i. 

I  Iron  Age,  53,  157,  174. 

II  Iron  Age,  6i,  175. 

Jack  Juggler,  4,  175. 

Jacobs,  T.  E.,  175. 

Jew  of  Malta,  5,  74,  160,  175. 

Johan  Johan,  Tyb,  and  John,  33, 

35.  x75- 
John  the  Evangelist,  35,  175. 
Jonson,    Ben,    3,    169,    171,    172, 

179,  180,  181. 
Jusserand,  J.  J.,  Shakespeare  in 

France,  12,  166. 


Keller,  W.,  Nochmals  zur  Buhne 
Shakespeares,  165.^ 

Kenntnis  der  altenglischen  Buhne, 
Zur,  K.  T.  Gaedertz,  165. 

Kilian,  E.,  Die  Scenischen  For- 
men  Shakespeare's,  166;  Shake- 
speare auf  der  Modernen  Buhne, 
166. 

Killigrew,  Thomas,  46. 

King  and  no  King,  41,  175. 

King  Darius,  33,  35,  175. 

King  Lear,  no,  145,  175. 

King  of  Lombardy,  56,  62,  175. 

Kirkman,  Francis,  Wits,  or  Sport 
upon  Sport,  38,  40,  42,  43,  151, 
182. 

Kremer,  Theodore,  178. 

Kyd,  Thomas,  3,  180. 

Kynge  Johan,  33,  35,  175. 

Lame  Commonwealth,  43. 

Lateinischen  Universitdts-Dramen 
in  der  Zeit  der  Konigen  Eliza- 
beth, Die,  G.  B.  Churchill  and 
W.  Keller,  44,  165. 

Lawrence,  W.  J.,  A  Forgotten 
Stage  Conventionality,  93,  164; 
Music  in  the  Elizabethan  Thea- 
ter, 113,  165;  Some  Characteris- 
tics   of    the    Elizabethan-Stuart 


Stage,  39,  166;  Early  French 
Players  in  England,  163;  The 
Mounting  of  the  Stuart  Masques, 
4,  165. 

Lee,  Nathaniel,  171,  172,  176,  177. 

Lee,  Sidney,  Shakespeare  and  the 
Modern  Stage,  166. 

Like  Will  to  Like,  35,  175. 

Limberham,  76,  175. 

List  of  Plays,  168. 

Location  and  change  of  a  regu- 
lar setting  on  the  Elizabethan 
stage,  106. 

Location  of  a  regular  setting  on 
the  Restoration  stage,  88. 

Lodge,  Thomas,  3,  175. 

London,  Walter  Besant,  165. 

London  Past  and  Present,  H.  B. 
Wheatley,  165. 

Londoner  Theater  und  Schauspiele 
im  Jahre  1599,  G.  Binz,  165. 

Looking  Glass  for  London  and 
England,  54,  61,  175. 

Lord  Cromwell,  160,  175. 

Love  and  Honor,  112,  175. 

Love  and  Revenge,  97,  175. 

Love  for  Love,  101,  126,  175. 

Love  in  a  Nunnery,  92,  175. 

Love  Triumphant,  89,  176. 

Love's  Sacrifice,  52,  69,  112,  176. 

Lovelace,  Richard,  179. 

Loyal  Brother,  96,  176. 

Loyal  Subject,  63,  67,  176. 

Lucius  Junius  Brutus,  176. 

Ludus  Coventriae,  19,  22,  176. 

Lust's  Dominion,  in,  123,  176. 

Lusty  Juventus,  32,  35,  176. 

Lyly,  John,  2,  179. 


Macbeth,  63,  176. 

Macro  MS.,  13. 

Macro  Plays,  14,  176. 

Mad  Lover,  120,  176. 

Magnificence,  32,  35,  176. 

Maiden  Queen,  91,  176. 

Maid's  Tragedy,  119,  176^ 

Malone,  Edmund,  Historical  Ac- 
count of  the  English  Stage,  164; 
Plays  and  Poems  of  William 
Shakespeare  with  the  Correc- 
tions and  Illustrations  of  Vari- 
ous Commentators,  165. 

Mankind,  33,  35,  177. 

Manly,  J.  M.,  Tlie  Pre-Shaksper- 
ean  Drama,  17,  169,  173,  178, 
179. 


190 


INDEX 


Mantzius,  Karl,  A  History  of 
Theatrical  Art  in  Ancient  and 
Modern  Times,  164. 

Marlowe,    Cristopher,    3,     5,    39, 

,171,  W&JjJk  1^6',1X7:  l8°- 
Marriage  of  Wit  and  Science,  33, 

35.  177- 

Marston,  John,  3,  169,  172,  178, 
180,  181. 

Martyred  Soldier,  52,  177. 

Mary  Magdalene,  15,  104,  155, 
156,  177- 

Mason,  J.  M.,  170,  174. 

Massacre  of  Paris,  65,  149,  177. 

Massinger,  Philip,  3,  170,  172, 
173,  174,  178,  179, 181. 

Matthews,  Brander,  The  His- 
torical Novel,  164;  Why  Five 
Acts,  113. 

Mayor  of  Queensborough,  122,  177. 

Mediaeval  Stage,  The,  E.  K. 
Chambers,  11,  13,  23,  24,  163, 
168,  179. 

Medwell,  H.,  178. 

Menaechmi,  4,  177. 

Merchant  of  Venice,  59,  104,  177. 

Merry  Beggars,  53,  177. 

Messallina,  39,  44,  45,  177. 

Messallina  Picture,  2,  7,  39,  44, 
45.  47.  48,  49.  5°.  51.  58,  66, 
77.  151- 

Messallina  Picture  discussed,  45. 

Meyer,  C.  F.,  Englische  Komo- 
dianten  am  Hofe  des  Herzogs 
Philipp  Julius  von  Pommern- 
Wolgast,  164. 

Michaelmas  Term,  69,  177. 

Middleton,  Thomas,  3,  169,  170, 
172,  177,  178,  180,  181,  182. 

Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  A, 
165. 

Miles  Gloriosus,  4,  177. 

Mind,  Will,  and  Understanding, 
32,  35,  177. 

Minor  parts  of  the  stage,  74. 

Miracles  and  Longer  Morali- 
ties, Chapter  I,  11. 

Mithridates,  95,  177. 

Modern  Philology,  April,  1905,  29; 
June,  1905,  29,  152;  October, 
1907,  152,  155,  167. 

Monkemeyer,  Paul,  Prolegomena 
zu  einer  Darstellung  der  eng- 
lischen  Volksbuhne  zur  Eliza- 
beth-und  Stuart- Zeit  nach  den 
alt  en  Buhnen-Anweisungen, 
165. 


Monsieur  Thomas,  54, 68, 117,  142, 

r45.  i77- 

More  Dissemblers  besides  Women, 
72,  177- 

Mounting  of  the  Stuart  Masques, 
The,  W.  J.  Lawrence,  4,   165. 

Munday,  A.,  172. 

Munday,  A.,  and  Strype,  J.,  Sur- 
vey of  London  by  John  Stow, 
167. 

Mundus  et  Infans,  33,  35,  178. 

Music  in  the  Elizabethan  Theatre, 
W.  J.  Lawrence,  113,  165. 

Nature,  33,  35,  178. 

Neue  Art  Shakespeare  zu  spielen, 
Eine,  A.  Brandl,  165. 

Neue  Shakespeare-Biihne,  Eine, 
E.  L.  Stahl,  165. 

New  Custom,  32,  35,  178. 

New  History  of  me  English  Stage 
from  the  Restoration  to  the  Lib- 
erty of  tlie  Theaters,  A,  P.  H. 
Fitzgerald,  46,  615. 

Nice  Wanton,  34,  35,  178. 

Nochmals  zur  Buhne  Shakespeares, 
W.  Keller,  165. 

Norris,  Edwin,  The  Ancient  Corn- 
ish Drama,  18,  19. 

Norwich  Plays,  26,  178. 

Old  Cornish  Drama,  The,  T.  C. 
Peter,  19. 

Old  Fortunatus,  60,  178. 

Old  Law,  122,  178. 

Old  Wives'  Tale,  159,  178. 

Ordinances  of  both  Houses  of  Par- 
liament for  the  suppressing  of 
public  stage  plays  throughout 
the  kingdom  during  these  calami- 
tous times,  40. 

Ordish,  T.  F.,  Early  London  Tlie- 
aters,  163;  Shakespeare's  Lon- 
don, 166. 

Otway,  Thomas,  168,  171,  173, 
180,  181. 

Outer  and  innner  stages  in  the 
Elizabethan  theater  become 
one,  in. 

Outer  and  inner  stages  in  the  Re- 
storation theater  become  one, 

Outer  scenes,  114. 

Outer  stage  approached  by  two 

proscenium  doors,  etc.,  54. 
Outlaw's   Christmas,    81,    84,    88, 

91.  93.  95.  97,   178- 


INDEX 


191 


Outlines  of  the  Life  of  Shakespeare, 
J.  O.  Halliwell,  165. 

Parisitaster,  159,  178. 

Passion  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
18. 

Peele,  George,  3,  171,  173,  178, 
182. 

Percy,  William,  172. 

Peter,  T.  C,  The  Old  Cornish 
Drama,  19. 

Pettit  de  Julie ville,  Histoire  de  la 
langue  et  de  la  litterature  fran- 
caises,  12. 

Phoenix,  138,  178. 

Picture,  64,  66,  71, 178. 

Pilgrim,  118,  178. 

Pinner  of  Wakefield,  124,  141, 
158,  178. 

Platonic  Lovers,  53,  143,  178. 

Plautus,  4,  169,  177. 

Play  of  Love,  32,  35,  178. 

Play  of  the  Weather,  33,  35,  179. 

Plays  and  Poems  of  William 
Shakespeare  with  the  Corrections 
and  Illustrations  of  Various 
Commentators,  Edmund  Malone, 
165. 

Plays  in  which  the  action  is  en- 
tirely unlocated,  etc.,  30. 

Plays  in  which  the  scenes  are 
located  in  or  near  some  building, 
etc.,  35. 

Plays  in  which  the  scenes  are  un- 
located, etc.,  33. 

Plays  with  located  and  propertied 
action,  32. 

Poel,  William,  Shakespeare  on  the 
stage  in  the  Elizabethan  Manner, 
166. 

Pollard,  A.  W.,  14,  24,  170,  176, 
180. 

Presentation  of  a  modern  melo- 
drama, 81. 

Pre-Shaksperean  Drama,  The,  J. 
M.  Manly,   17,    169,    173,    178, 

Preston,  T.,  170. 

Processional  plays,  23. 

Prolegomena  zu  einer  Darstellung 
der  englischen  Volksbhune  zur 
Elizabeth  und  Stuart-Zeit  nach 
den  alten  Biihnen-Anweisungen, 
Paul  Monkemeyer,  165. 

Prolss,  Robert,  Von  den  altesten 
Drucken  der  Dramen  Shake- 
speare s,  155. 


Properties,  75. 

Properties  moved  forward,  etc., 
i37- 

Quarterly  Review,  April,  1908,  3,  5, 

162. 
Queen  Hester,  33,  35,  179. 

Ralph  Roister  Doister,  4,  179. 
Rape  of  Lucrece,  60,  65,  108,  179. 
Red  Bull  Picture,  2,  7,  39,  40,  151. 
Red  Bull  Theater,  38,  39,  40,  41, 

42,  45,  46,  78. 
Redford,  J.,  182. 
Rehearsal,  89,  91,  179. 
Renegado,  57,  143,  179. 
Respublica,  30,  35,  179. 
Resurrection   of  Our   Lord   Jesus 

Christ,  18,  19. 
Resurrection  Play,  11,  179. 
Revels'  Company,  45. 
Reynolds,  G.  F.,  Some  Principles 

of  Elizabethan   Staging,    6,    29, 

151,  152-160,     167;    "Trees" 
on  the  Stage  of  Shakespeare,  29, 

152,  155,  167. 
Rich,  Christopher,  49. 

Richard  II  Performed  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  London  by  the  Eliza- 
bethan Stage  Society,  Nov.  n, 
1899,  165. 

Richards,  N.,  44,  45,  177. 

Riley,  H.  T.,  169. 

Robinson,  E.  G.,  176. 

Rogers,  Robert,  A  Breauarye  of 
the  Cittie  of  Chester,  24. 

Roman  Actor,  144,  149.  *79- 

Romeo  and  Juliet,  133,  156,  179. 

Roscius  Anglicanus,  John  Downes, 
46,  166. 

Rose  Theater,  5,  38,  78. 

Roxana,  39,  44,  *79- 

Roxana  Picture,  2,  7,  39,  43.  *5X" 

Royal  King  and  Loyal  Subject, 
118,  138,  139,  179. 

Rutland  House,  46. 

Rye,  W.  B.,  England  as  Seen  by  a 
Foreigner,  163. 

Salisbury  Court  Theater,  38,  46. 
Sampson,  M.  W.,  172,  181. 
Sapho  and  Phao,  159,  179 
Satiro-Mastix,  53,  109,  179. 
Scenes    change     in     Elizabethan 

plays  with   characters  on   the 

stage,  122. 


192 


INDEX 


Scenes  change  in  Restoration 
plays  with  characters  on  the 
stage,  98. 

Scenischen  Formen  Shakespeare's, 
Die,  Eugen  Kilian,  166. 

Scenischen  Formen  Shakespeare' s 
in  ihrem  Verhdltnisse  zur  Buhne 
seiner  Ziet,  Uber  die,  R.  Gen6e, 
166. 

Schelling,  F.  E.,  Elizabethan  Dra- 
ma, 163. 

Scholar,  73,  179. 

Scobell's  Collection  of  Acts  &  Ordi- 
nances, 41. 

Second  curtain  or  traverse,  58. 

Secondary  curtains,  58. 

Seeing  an  Elizabethan  Play,  and 
Some  Particular  Discourse  on  the 
Knight  of  the  Burning  Pestle, 
On,  166. 

Sejanus,  54,  179. 

Seneca,  4. 

Setting  for  a  scene  of  execution, 
136. 

Setting  for  a  play  within  a  play, 
134. 

Settle,  Elkanah,  7,  47,  84,  88,  170, 
171,  172,  181. 

Shakspere,   William,   3,    78,    103, 

174,  175.  176,  177,  i79- 
Shakespeare   and   His    Times,  N. 

Drake,  166. 
Shakespeare  and  Mr.  Barrie,  G.  B. 

Shaw,  166. 
Shakespeare     and    the     Modern 

Stage,  Sidney  Lee,  166. 
Shakespeare  and  the  Plastic  Stage, 

John  Corbin,  166. 
Shakespeare    auf   der    Modernen 

Buhne,  Eugen  Kilian,  166. 
Shakespeare-Buhne  nach  den  alien 

Buhnenanveisungen,  Die,   Cecil 

Brodmeier,  6,  151,  166. 
Shakespeare  in  France,  J.  J.  Jus- 

serand,  12,  166. 
Shakespeare  J  ahrbuch,  44, 1 13, 163, 

164,  165,  166. 
Shakespeare   on   the    stage   in    the 

Elizabethan    Manner,    William 

Poel,  166. 
Shakespeare's  London,  T.  F.  Or- 

dish,  166. 
Shakespeare's  London,  N.  T.  Ste- 
phenson, 166. 
Shakespere's    Predecessors    in    the 

English  Drama,  J.  A.  Symonds, 

166. 


Shaksperian  Method  of  Stage 
Presentation,  The,  Chapters 
V-VI,  103-149. 

Sharp,  T.,  A  Dissertation  on  the 
Pageants  or  Mysteries  anciently 
Performed  at  Coventry,  25,  26. 

Shaw,  G.  B.,  Shakespeare  and 
Mr.  Barrie,  166. 

She  W 'ould  if  She  Could,  97, 140, 180. 


Shirley,  James,  3,  <,  39 
to  th 
62. 


Side  entrances 


e  inner  stage, 


Siege  of  Rhodes,  46,  180. 

Silver  Age,  72,  180. 

Simpleton  the  Smith,  43. 

Sir  Martin  Mar- All,  46,  92,  180. 

Sixteenth  Century  Playhouse,  A, 
William  Archer,  166. 

Skelton,  John,  176. 

Small  properties  moved  forward, 
etc.,  138. 

Smith,  L.  Toulmin,  182. 

Soldier's  Fortune,  89,  92,  101,  180. 

Some  Account  of  the  English 
Stage  from  the  Restoration  in 
1660  to   18 jo,  J.   Genest,    166. 

Some  Characteristics  of  the  Eliza- 
bethan-Stuart Stage,  W.  J.  Law- 
rence, 39,  167. 

Some  Principles  of  Elizabethan 
Staging,  G.  F.  Reynolds,  6,  29, 
152-160,  167. 

Some  Principles  of  Restora- 
tion Staging,  Chapter  IV,  79. 

Sophonisba,  61,  141,  180. 

Southerne,  Thomas,  173,  176. 

Spanish  Friar,  76,  143,  180. 

Spanish  Tragedy,  63,  74,  134,  135, 
160,  180. 

Special  features  of  Elizabethan 
staging,  132. 

Special  features  of  Restoration 
staging,  98. 

Special  settings,  133. 

Stage  directions,  'enter,"  140, 
"exit"  and  "exeunt,"  142, 
"set  out,"  142. 

Stage  History  of  Richard  III, 
A.  I.  P.  Wood,  167. 

Stage  of  Richelieu,  48. 

Stage  of  the  Globe,  The,  E.  K. 
Chambers,  167. 

Staging  of  Shakespeare,  Tltc,  H. 
Beerbohm  Tree,  167. 

Staging  of  Shakespeare,  The.  A 
Reply  to  Mr.  Beerbohm  Tree, 
W.  Hughes  Hallett,  167. 


INDEX 


193 


Staging   of  Shakespeare,    The:    a 

Rejoinder,  Arthur    Dillon,    167. 
Stahl,   E.   L.,  Neue  Shakespeare- 

Bilhtie,  Eine,  165. 
Stair,  B.  W.,  113. 
Stairs,  74. 

Stationary  plays,  13. 
Stephenson,  H.  T.,   Shakespeare's 

London,  166. 
Stevenson,  W.,  173. 
Stopes,  C.  C,  Elizabethan    Stage 

Scenery,  163. 
Stow,  John,    Survey    of   London, 

23,  167. 
Succession  of  scenes,  114. 
Summoning  of  Everyman,  33,  35, 

180. 
Survey  of  London,  John  Stow,  23, 

167. 
Swan  Picture,  2,  4,  39. 
Swan,    Red    Bull,    Roxana,    and 

Messallina    pictures    discussed, 

38-45- 

Swan  Theater,  38,  160. 

Symonds,  J.  A.,  Shakspere's  Pre- 
decessors in  the  English  Drama, 
166. 

Tale  of  a  Tub,  135,  180. 

II  Tamburlaine,  52,  180. 

Terence,  4,  169. 

Theater  Royal,  46. 

Theater,  The,  5,  38. 

Ther sites,  32,  35,  180. 

Tiring-house,  75. 

'Tis  Pity  She  's  a  Whore,  141, 
160,  173,  180. 

Titus  and  Bernice,  180. 

Towneley,  First  Shepherd's  Play, 
27. 

Towneley  Plays,  23,  24,  26,  27, 
180. 

Towneley ',  Purification,  28. 

Traps,  74. 

Tree,  H.  Beerbohm,  The  Staging 
of  Shakespeare,  167. 

''Trees"  on  the  Stage  of  Shake- 
speare, G.  F.  Reynolds,  29,  152, 

i55,  l67- 
Trial  of  Treasure,  32,  35,  180. 
Trick  to  Catch  the  Old  One,   60, 

125,  180. 
Typical    Shakesperian    Stage, 

A,  Chapter  III,  38. 
Tyrannic  Love,  99,  124,  181. 

Udall,  Nicholas,  179. 


Unnatural  Combat,  65,  131. 
Use  of  the  upper  stage,  132. 

Valenciennes  Passion,  12. 
Valentinian,  59,  141,  181. 
Van  Buchell,  A.,  38,  39. 
Variety,  43,  181. 
Venice  Preserved,  96,  142,  181. 
Villiers,  George,  179. 
Virgin  Prophetess,  90,  181. 
Virgin  Martyr,  137,   181. 
Visscher  Map,  71. 
Volpone,  59,  181. 

Wallace,  C.  W.,  Children  of  the 
Chapel  at  Blackfriars,  163. 

Waller,  A.  R.,  170,  174,  175,  176, 
177,  178,  181,  182. 

Ward,  A.  W.,  A  History  of  Eng- 
lish Dramatic  Literature  to  the 
Death  of  Queen  Anne,  164. 

Wealth  and  Health,  32,  35,  181. 

Webster,  John,  3,  172,  181. 

Wegener,  Richard,  Buhnenein- 
richtung  des  Shakes  pe  are  schen 
Theaters  nach  den  zeitgenossis- 
chen  Dramen,  6,  134,  151,  160- 
162,  163. 

Wever,  Richard,  171,  176. 

What  You  Will,  53,  60,  181. 

Wheatley,  H.  B.,  London  Past 
and  Present,  165;  On  a  Con- 
temporary Drawing  of  the  Swan 
Theatre,  163. 

White  Devil,  56,  62,  in,  181. 

Whore  of  Babylon,  53,  55,  62,  74, 
no,  181. 

Why  Five  Acts,  Brander  Matthews, 
113. 

Widow's  Tears,  72,  118. 

Wife  for  a  Month,  53,  72,  no,  119, 
136,  146,  181. 

Wild  Gallant,  76,  96,  181. 

William  Shakespeare,  George 
Brandes,  tr.  by  William  Archer, 
167. 

Wisdom  of  Doctor  Dodypoll,  52, 
182. 

Wise  Woman  of  Hogsdon,  63,  124, 
141,  181. 

Wit  and  Science,  32,  35,  182. 

Wit  without  Money,  41,  68,  121, 
145,  182. 

Witch,  60,  73,  182. 

Witch  of  Edmonton,  160,  182. 

Witches  of  Lancashire,  70,  126, 
182. 


194 


INDEX 


Wits,  or  Sport  upon  Sport,  38,  40, 

43,  182. 
Women  Beware   Women,    63,   68, 

70,  72,  182. 
Wood,  A.  I.  P.,  Stage  History  of 

Richard  III,  167. 
Wright,  James,    Historia    Histri- 

onica,  42,  164. 


Wright,  Thomas,  170. 

York,  Abraham  and  Isaac,  27. 

York  Plays,  23,  25,  26,  182. 

York,  The  Angels  and  the  Shep- 
herds, 27. 

York,  The  Entry  into  Jerusalem, 
27. 


VITA. 

The  author  of  this  essay  was  born  in  Garrett  County, 
Maryland,  October  n,  1878.  He  received  his  early  education 
at  the  West  Virginia  Conference  Seminary  (now  the  Wesleyan 
University  of  West  Virginia) ;  and  proceeded  thence  in  1898  to 
Ohio  Wesleyan  University,  where  he  graduated  B.  A.  in  1901. 
From  1 901  to  1903  he  was  an  instructor  in  English  in  Todd 
Seminary  in  Illinois.  He  spent  the  college  year  1903-4  as  a 
student  in  Harvard  University,  where  he  received  the  degree 
of  M.  A.  in  English.  During  the  year  1905-6  he  was  an 
instructor  in  English  and  Public  Speaking  in  Pacific  Univer- 
sity, Forest  Grove,  Oregon.  In  the  fall  of  1906  he  entered  the 
Graduate  School  of  Columbia  University.  During  his 
two  years  in  Columbia  he  took  courses  under  Professors 
Brander  Matthews,  G.  P.  Krapp,  W.  W.  Lawrence,  W.  P. 
Trent,  J.  B.  Fletcher,  J.  E.  Spingarn,  and  Ashley  H.  Thorn- 
dike.  In  1908-9  he  was  an  instructor  in  English  in  Delaware 
College,  Newark,  Delaware. 


195 


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